The Flurry of Life
by R3aper
Summary: A collection of stories of the intertwined lives of Harry Potter and Fleur Delacour. Most chapters will be their own, independent AUs of varying degrees. One-shot collection. Harry/Fleur, of course.
1. By the Lake

**Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction, I do not claim any rights over this at all. This work is just for the entertainment of myself and others, nothing more.**

**These first few chapters will be one-shots I've written previously that have been edited and tweaked. After that, it'll be new content. Just a heads up, updates will be sporadic, as I will write whenever I'm inspired.**

**I don't think I've ever heard of anyone on this site call this couple 'Flurry'. So, FIRST!**

**This is being edited and posted on Bastille Day, which is a French holiday. Somewhat fitting, don't you think?**

* * *

Harry couldn't sleep. He had tossed and turned in his bed for the past hour while his dorm-mates had quietly dozed, or in Ron's case, loudly snored.

The Triwizard tournament was too much. He had already had to out fly a dragon and fight off grindylows in the Black Lake to save his friends that were never even in danger. In just a few short months from now, he had to navigate a maze with Merlin knew what magical creatures lurking in it. With Hagrid involved, there had to be just as, if not more dangerous than the dragons. Even with all the safety precautions in place, it's amazing no one had died yet.

Harry flipped onto his back and rested his hands at his sides.

He needed some air to clear his head. Harry swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood. He grabbed a pair of shoes and the Marauder's Map from his trunk and crept past his sleeping roommates. Creeping down the stairs and crossing the common room, he slipped out of the portrait. Once he was out in the hallway, Harry slipped on the shoes and used a simple transfiguration spell on his pajamas, turning them into a pair of jeans and sweatshirt.

Harry quickly navigated past the sleeping paintings and out of the castle. Harry made his way through the cool air to the shores of the Black Lake, guided by moonlight. He sat down on a dead log that had drifted ashore and listened to the waves. A tree loomed over him, bathing him in darkness. Harry closed his eyes and smiled. It was quite relaxing.

The soft crash of the small waves was disturbed by faint music. Harry strained his ears to hear. It grew louder with each passing second. No, it wasn't music, it was someone singing. Harry turned to find the source of the singing, his eyes resting on a slender hooded figure walking down towards the shore. He couldn't make much out other that the figure seemed to be a girl.

As the figure grew closer, Harry began to decipher some of the sounds. He recognized some words. It was French! Hermione had taught him some French after her vacation in the country. Despite hardly paying any attention to her, it seemed like he had learned something.

The figure's features grew more prominent as it approached. Pants and a dark jacket clung to the girl's slim frame. A hood covered her head, but Harry definitely spotted some silvery blonde hair.

Despite him seeing her, she seemed to not have noticed him. She stopped not far from him, sitting down on a rock by the shore and gazing out at the dark waters, still singing in French, although more softly.

The girl transfigured a couple of rocks into logs, setting them alight with an _incendio_. Harry was well out of the range of the orange light, so he made no move to either reveal himself or hide any further.

Harry silently debated with himself on whether to approach the girl or not. On one hand, it'd probably be really creepy for him to just emerge out of the shadows. On the other hand, Harry had the strange need to talk to her, whoever she was. Then she answered his dilemma

"You are not zat sneaky, you know. You should probably come out, or you'll seem more creepy zan you already are and I'd 'ave to 'ex you."

Well, he couldn't argue with that. Harry walked into the orange light cast by the burning logs.

The girl pulled down her hood and looked at him. "Fleur? Fleur Delacour?" Harry realized when he was just steps away.

"'arry Potter?" Fleur smiled at her fellow competitor.

"Hi Fleur."

"'ello 'arry." Fleur patted the space next to her on the rock. "Come, sit." With no other true option other than run away, Harry obliged.

"You know, I wasn't trying to be sneaky." Harry explained.

"Mhm."

"I was already sitting in the dark when you got here."

"Sure you were, " Fleur smiled. "I'm sure little boys like yourself love peeking on girls." She teased. Harry's face grew tomato red at the comment. But it shifted when he realized what her comment implied.

"I am not a little boy." Harry said indignantly.

"Yes, little boys wouldn't be able to get into zis tournament."

"I am not a little boy." The wizard repeated. "I never even wanted to be in this stupid tournament anyways." Harry muttered under his breath.

"_Pardon_?"

"I said that this tournament is stupid." Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I never wanted to participate."

"Why? Zis tournament would give ze winner fame and glory! Everyone in Europe would know zeir name!" Fleur's eyes glazed over at the thought. "People would talk about them for years!"

"And?" Harry said sharply. "I don't want any of that!" He threw his hands up agitation. "I've had enough of it my whole life!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm Harry-freaking-Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived! That's what I mean! My whole life has been fucking hell!" Harry shook with rage at his outburst, but took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"It 'as?" Fleur's expression was incredulous. "But you're ze savior of ze Wizarding World! I 'ad always assumed you were treated like royalty."

"Well you assumed wrong." Harry rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the dancing flames. "I was never raised around magic. For the first eleven years of my life, I lived with my Muggle relatives. They called me a freak and treated me like a slave. I didn't even know I was a wizard until Hagrid, our gamekeeper, tracked me down and told me the truth." Harry glanced at Fleur, who was silent, but he could see the surprise in her eyes. "Then, first year happened. I met Voldemort-" The Veela involuntary winced at the mention of the name. "-for the first time since I was a baby."

"Wait, didn't you kill You-Know-Who all zose years ago?"

"Apparently, I didn't kill all of him. His soul managed to escape when the killing curse rebounded on him. Anyways, I managed to defeat him again. In the second year, I was accused of being a dark wizard because I'm a parseltongue. Pretty much the whole school ostracized me. Only a few students and teachers stuck with me. I then had to fight Voldemort, except this one was a younger version trapped in a diary, sort of like a memory, and his basilisk in a dungeon underneath the school. I also learned Voldemort's true name, Tom Riddle. And to make a long story short for third year, there was thankfully no Voldemort, I found out who my godfather was, my parents' true traitor and fought some Dementors."

Fleur sat there for a moment, processing all the information given to her.

She took his hand and his own and began slowly. "'arry, I'm sorry for misjudging and for you calling you a little boy."

"It's alright."

There was a flash of movement and suddenly Fleur's arm's were wrapped around Harry's neck and her body pressed up against his in a very intimate hug. A pink tinge invaded his cheeks.

"I know nothing can fix or change what 'as 'appened to you, 'arry. But I 'ope that things will turn for the better for you." Tears beginning to stream down his face, Harry returned the hug. No one had ever said that to him.

They released each other.

"I zought you weren't a little boy? Only little boys and girls cry." Fleur teased. Harry waved her off with a chuckle.

"Thank you, Fleur." He wiped away tears and rose from his seat. "I think I'll go back to my dorm now. I came down here to clear my head and it feels a lot clearer now. "Good luck on the tournament."

"_Bonne Chance _and Good night, 'arry." Fleur hugged him again, this time much less intimate.

"Good night, Fleur."

When Harry returned to his dorm, he fell onto his bed with a content smile gracing his lips.

* * *

**Seriously, it'd be pretty awesome if 'Flurry' became a thing. WE SHOULD MAKE THIS A THING.**

**Before any of you start asking for follow-ups, please don't. I do not have any plans in the near future to write sequels to any of the chapters. I may revisit a chapter and elaborate on the aftermath, but that's in the far, distant future. Besides, I'm not nearly confident in my ability to write follow-ups that would stack up against the original.**

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**


	2. Sounds of the Cursed

Harry stood alone on the covered bridge, leaning on the bridge and looking over the edge at the valley far below. The sound of rain hitting wood was met with the occasional footsteps of people walking behind him.

"You are not planning to jump, are you?" A new sound was added to the others. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of light blue clothing under a jacket and blonde hair. Coupled with the French accent, he came to only one conclusion; a Beauxbatons student. She was leaning on her elbow and looking at him.

"With my luck, I'd probably survive." Harry continued to look down, not bothering to see who it was he was talking to.

"What do you mean, your luck?" The voice asked.

"I'm very hard to kill. Harder than most."

"Someone sounds a little confident in 'imself." Harry could hear the smirk in his partner's voice.

"I do, don't I?" He chuckled. "But it's not like that, not even close."

"What do you mean? Being 'ard to kill seems pretty nice."

"It's less of a perk and more of a..." Harry struggled to find a word.

"A curse?" Harry detected hints of somber tones in the voice.

"Yeah, something like that. I've been through a lot in my life, been near death more times than most other people. But something -probably this curse- always bounces me back and returns me to the land of the living."

"I know a zing or two about living wiz a curse." The girl turned and rested both elbows on the wooden frame of the bridge. Neither looked at each other.

"How so?"

"You could say zat I'm attractive, I'm really attractive."

"Someone sounds a little confident in herself." Harry echoed her earlier statement.

"Shut up." She lightly slapped his arm. "As I was saying, I've 'ad to live with zis my whole life. Just like you, it's more of an affliction zan an advantage." Harry still did not look at her, but remained still and completely attentive. "My whole life, I've 'ad boys lust after me for my body while girls envied me for all the attention I received. I didn't have very many friends growing up. Zankfully, my family and a handful of people who saw past my beauty were zere to support me. But even with all ze support, not very much 'as changed. Men still chase me while women look at me with disdain. I 'aven't even kissed a boy before!" Harry's eyes grew to saucers, when he heard her confession, he was sure her's did too. "Too much?"

"Just a tad."

And then he heard her harmonious laughter. Combing with the patter of the rain, it had to be one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard. He couldn't help but join in.

"Look at us, two cursed people laughing in the rain." Harry said after they had both calmed down. He finally turned to look at her, only to find nothing.

Hearing laughter and feet hitting the wood behind him, he turned again only to catch a glimpse of her as she rounded the corner. She was fast.

And he didn't even get to ask her for her name.


	3. New Year's Eve

It seemed like a respectable neighborhood, a place where it looked like she would fit in.

Harry double checked the address on the slip of paper she had given him. It was right.

They had met in a cafe earlier that day. He sat in the corner, watching the snow fall outside while sipping his tea. She came in, intent on getting some coffee and a pastry. Their eye's met and they instantly recognized each other.

They had a brief conversation, this was due to her being on a lunch break. She hastily scribbled her address on a slip of paper. She told him since he didn't know anyone in the city and neither of them were doing anything that night, that he should come over and they would catch up. Harry agreed. It was New Year's Eve and the turn of the Millennium after all.

Which led him to be standing in front of her door a few hours later.

He knocked on the door.

" 'arry!" Fleur's face replaced the door.

"Hey Fleur."

"Come in, Come in!" Fleur quickly hugged him and backed up to allow him in. The flat was simply decorated in warm colors. A radio played soft jazz in the corner.

Fleur led him to the couch in the living room, sitting him down and walking into the kitchen. "Wine, 'arry?"

"Uh yeah, sure." She poured two glasses of the drink and brought them into the living room. Handing one to Harry, she sat down next to him and took a sip from her glass.

"So, 'ow 'ave you been?" Fleur inquired. "I 'aven't seen you in years!"

"Yeah, not since the Triwizard Tournament, right?." Harry took a sip from his own glass.

"Mhm." She agreed.

"I've been traveling the world the past year. After defeating Voldemort at Hogwarts, I stuck around for a little while to help with the reconstruction of Hogwarts and helping where I could. In that time, I got some business affairs in order and found out I had a nice amount of money."

"Really?" Fleur raised an eyebrow.

"Really, the Potters have been around for centuries, more than enough time to fill the family vault in Gringotts. Anyways, I left England after the New Year and I've been traveling ever since."

"All by yourself?"

"What, still think of me as a 'leetle boy'?" Harry chuckled.

"Non, nothing like zat," Fleur grinned. "I just zought you would've brought your friends, to keep you company."

"Well I felt like this was something for me to do on my own. Before I left, I had never been outside Great Britain." Harry smiled into his glass. "I figured it'd be the next great adventure for Harry Potter. But enough about me, what about you, how have things been going on?"

"Well zit's pretty boring compared to yours. After ze tournament, I took an apprenticeship under a 'ealer. I completed my training after about two years and moved to Paris to fill an opening 'ere. And I've been 'ere ever since."

"Wow, you were right," Harry smirked. "That was boring."

"Shut up!" Fleur playfully slapped his arm. "Not all of us can be ze great Harry Potter, savior of ze Wizarding World." She waved her hands around for dramatic effect.

"So, what about your family..."

And so they were like this for hours. Harry regaled Fleur of his traveling tales, from running completely stark naked from the Muggle Aurors to deep sea diving in the Pacific Ocean. Fleur shared ridiculous stories of patients being too taken by her allure to respond to any questions to the odd injuries she came across.

"And then, I turned around, put my hands up, and said, 'What seems to be the problem, officer?'!" Harry barked with laughter.

"And zen what?" Fleur's face was red from laughter.

"He stared at me for a minute before he threw a blanket on me and drove me back to my hotel!" It wasn't even funny, yet both of them laughed hysterically. They had finished the first bottle of wine and drained the second, so they moved to Fleur's stash of firewhiskey.

Harry had an arm laying on the couch behind Fleur's head. Fleur yawned and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Look's like someone had a little too much fun." Harry received a half-hearted slap to the leg.

"'ush 'arry." Fleur murmured. "Listen to ze music." Harry had completely forgotten that the music was playing. Wine and catching up with an old friends does that to you.

"_Les gens de Paris! Écoutez, la nouvelle année commence dans environ une minute!" _A voice from the radio interupted the soft music.

" 'arry! Ze countdown! It's going to start soon!" Fleur seemed suddenly full of energy. She hopped up from her place on Harry and ran out onto the balcony. Harry followed her out into the cold air.

Her balcony had a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. Harry could see all the people crowded in front of it, their eyes turned to the sky for the impending light show.

"I've never gotten a New Year's Kiss." Harry suddenly blurted out. Fleur raised an eyebrow. "I mean, uh, uh," Harry struggled to find the words. Then the voice from the radio began the countdown.

_Dix!_

_Neuf!_

"I guess we have to fix zat, don't we?"

_Huit!_

_Sept!_

Fleur wrapped her arms around Harry's neck.

_Six!_

_Cing!_

Harry placed his hands on Fleur's waist, pulling her close.

_Quarte!_

_Trois!_

Their lips drew close together, smiles dancing on them.

_Deux!_

_Un!_

And then there were fireworks.

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**Sorry if the French is incorrect, I used Google Translate.**


	4. A Dance

Harry stepped out of the Great Hall, away from the festivities of the Yule Ball. He was not enjoying himself at all. He had managed to slip away in the chaos of the crowd once the slow dancing ended and The Weird Sisters began blaring their rock music.

Harry slowly walked under the awnings of the courtyard, content with watching the snowflakes slowly come down. It wasn't too chilly. Charms were probably set to prevent students from freezing.

He made his way to a set of stone stairs. These stairs led down to a large rose garden. The champion walked down the steps and into the rose garden.

It was quiet, he could hardly hear the music from the Yule Ball. Quiet enough to where he could hear lips smacking against lips. Glancing at a tree, he could make out the faint shadows of two students pressed up against it. Not wanting to disturb them, Harry walked towards the far end of the garden, far away from any more possible couples in the dark.

The far end of the garden was a raised platform that overlooked the Black Lake and the rest of the garden. The platform was in the shape of a large oval. The ends that were furthest from each other had steps that led down into the garden. Stone railings were on either side to prevent students from falling. There were also stone benches on either side to allow student to enjoy the view, either of the lake or the garden.

When Harry ascended the steps, he discovered he was not alone. Sitting on the stone bench that faced the Black Lake sat the Beauxbatons Champion, Fleur Delacour. The whole platform was well lit by moonlight.

"Hey Fleur." His fellow champion glanced back at him, meeting his eyes before turning back to the lake. She had a contemplative look on her face.

"'ello 'arry." Harry took a seat beside her on the bench.

"Why are you here, shouldn't you be in the Great Hall with everyone else?"

"I was never one for social events." Fleur sighed. "Especially since I 'ad an oaf of a date tonight."

"What do you mean?" Harry inquired.

"Roger couldn't keep 'is eyes off my chest, I zought 'ee was resistant to my allure, bu-" Harry cut her off.

"No, not that. Everyone knows men fall to your feet." Harry gestured up and down her dress. "Especially since you look so nice to night. It amazing how guys weren't leaving their dates to be with you. I meant not being one for social events."

"Zank you." Fleur smiled slightly at his compliment before answering. "When I was younger, I didn't 'ave zis problem. I loved going to parties wiz my parents and 'aving a chance to meet new children to play wiz. I always 'ad so much fun at zem." The veela beamed at the far memories.

"And then what changed?"

"I grew up."

"What, did you become too cool for them or something?" Harry joked. Fleur playfully swatted him on the arm.

"No, nozzing like zat. When a Veela begins puberty, our Veela 'eritage emerges. Being a Veela, my blood sped up puberty and I developed quickly. One day I was playing with my friends, a few months later I felt the eyes of boys running up and down my body and the envious glares from the ozzer girls." The witch looked down and rubbed her arm. "Now, when I can't avoid attending a party, I 'ide until it is time to leave."

"You hide?"

"Yes, exactly like what you and I are doing right now." Fleur tapped on the bench with a finger.

"I'm not hiding!" Harry voiced his indignation. "I'm just... just..."

"'iding?" Fleur smirked.

"Okay, maybe I am hiding." Harry gave in.

"Why are you 'iding?"

"I'm not sure how to act at these things." Harry shrugged. "Ball, concert, whatever."

"What? It's a party, you 'ave never been to a party?"

"No, at least not one this big with this many strangers. The only parties I've been to are small ones with my best mates' family."

"Why? I zought 'arry Potter would be going to elegant parties with your Ministry or rich families."

"Well, I haven't. I only ever get involved with the Ministry when Fudge needs some publicity. And a lot of families were supporters of Voldemort, so by default, they hate me. It was easy at first, just act polite and put a show on for everyone. But it was still really uncomfortable. Then, when the Weird Sister started playing, I found my chance to escape."

"So ze great 'arry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, got scared and ran away?" Fleur said, a grin creeping up on her lips.

"Pretty much." Both burst out in chuckles. He suddenly had an idea. "Fleur, seeing as we're both in hiding on the night of the Yule Ball..."

"Yes?" Harry stood and bowed, offering his hand to her.

"Would you care for a dance?"

"But we 'ave no music, we can't dance without music." Regardless, Fleur took his hand and he pulled her up.

"Then we'll make it up in our heads." Harry tapped his temple with his free hand. "And we'll sing."

"I 'ave a 'orrible singing voice."

"Then we'll hum." He offered.

"Fine." Fleur put her arms on his shoulders. Despite their age difference, Harry still managed to be slightly taller than her.

"Ladies first." Harry placed he hands at her waist. She began humming.

They danced for what seemed liked hours. They did hum for a little while, but preferred the silence and company of each other.

They rocked back and forth in an enjoyable silence. Fleur rested her head on his chest, and him on her shoulder.

The end came just too soon. Harry noticed in the distance that a progression of Beauxbatons students were returning to their carriage. He was tempted to remain silent, but decided against it.

"Fleur."

"Hmm." The veela's eyes were closed and she looked to be very comfortable resting on him. And he was quite enjoying it.

"Fleur."

"What?" Fleur buried her face into his shoulder. He should have just stayed quiet...

"It's time to go, I can see your schoolmates going back to the carriage." He said hesitantly. He didn't want this to end, but also didn't want either of them to get in trouble.

Fleur slowly released him and took a half-step back.

"I guess zis is _au revoir,_ 'arry Potter." Fleur beamed.

"Good night Fleur." Harry grinned back. Without warning, Fleur wrapped her arms on his shoulders and pecked him on the lips. She turned on her heel and walked away. Stepping down the stairs, she glanced back at him one last time with a devious glint in her eyes and strode out of sight.

Harry Potter only had one thought running through his mind.

_Mon dieu_

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**The logic I was following with Harry was that he's a competitor. Be it on the Quidditch pitch or the tournament, he always competes; he's a man of action, not of elegance. So the Yule Ball is a whole new playing field that he has never had any sort of experience with. So he just noped out of there the first chance he could. I hope this clears it up for anyone who was confused with my weird way of writing.**


	5. Merci

Harry paddled through the water, eyes open for whatever he was supposed to save.

It was peaceful under the surface of the Black Lake. The water was surprisingly not as cold as the surface, but that was probably because of the gillyweed. And then there was the silence. He was completely alone with his thoughts.

Like, why did the Ministry or Dumbledore have anyone keeping an eye on the Goblet? Or why didn't they try to change the rules so someone could have backed out if they wished? Or why did they even bring this tournament back in the first place? They could have done something else to encourage international cooperation, like a picnic. Yeah, a nice day at the beach or a park would have been nice.

But the lake was also horrifying. He couldn't see the bottom of the lake, all he could see was pitch black water far below him. He shuddered to think what lurked in the darkness.

Harry turned his head when he heard a noise. What was it? It sounded like... singing! The song from the egg! He quickly began swimming in the general direction. With every few feet, the song grew a little bit louder and clearer.

He picked up his pace, hoping that the other champions didn't get there before him.

A flash of light in a kelp forest near him caught his eye. Staring at the plants, he saw another flash. Suddenly, there was movement and Fleur Delacour burst out of the plants, followed by a sizable horde of grindylows. She blindly fired stunners over her shoulder, trying to escape the beasts.

Harry looked in the direction of the song and back at Fleur. He knew what he had to do. Hermione would've called it his hero-complex acting up. Ron would've called it bloody stupid. Sirius would've called it a quick way into a girl's pants.

The wizard began firing stunners and a few blasting hexes, trying to scatter the group. Fleur caught on quickly, firing her own hexes. It proved effective, the underwater explosions shocked the grindylows, scattering them. What few were left were paralyzed before quickly recovering and scampering away to catch up with their companions.

Fleur looked at Harry, nodding in thanks. She pointed at him and herself, then at the direction of the song.

_We should work together._

Harry nodded. If there was another horde, neither would be able to handle it on their own.

The swam side by side, scanning the waters for any more enemies while following the song.

Harry couldn't help but look at his fellow champion. While she was beautiful above water, she somehow managed to be even more so underwater. Maybe she was a little bit Mermaid alongside Veela?

There was a tremor in the water that made the pair freeze and look at each other. They turned back to back and look in all directions, but found nothing.

They continued on their way, vibrations in the water making them stop and look around.

Then was a new noise. It was a muffled noise which sounded like countless tiny mouths growling and gnashing their teeth. And it was coming from below them.

Suddenly, dozens, if not hundreds, of grindylows surged from the darkness below them. The champions quickly went to work sending hexes and curses at the oncoming swarm. This deterred a few, but it wasn't enough.

The grindylows swarmed around them in a vortex, before reforming into a swirling sphere. They were trapped.

The pair sent spells flying in every direction, trying to keep the grindylows at bay. This managed to work, but they were going to be overwhelmed soon if they didn't do something.

Fleur tapped Harry on the shoulder. She pointed at herself then moved her hand downwards with the palm facing down. Then she pointed at him then gestured out the sphere, past the grindylows.

_I'll deal with them. You go._

Harry furiously shook his head. He wasn't just going to leave her here!

Fleur nodded, resolute in her decision. She wasn't going anywhere. She pointed her wand back at the horde, grabbing his arm and pointing it in the same direction.

_Together_

Pouring as much magic as either could, they blew a hole in the sphere. Harry shot through, feeling grindlyows swipe at his feet fins as the close closed behind him. He swam a distance away, stunning a handful of the creatures that decided to pursue him.

He watched the sphere. He saw the flashes in the swirling mass. Slowly, they grew more infrequent before they stopped all together.

* * *

Harry scrambled onto the platform, desperate to get out of the water. Someone wrapped him in a warm towel when he sat up and a crowd formed around him cheering for him.

"Zank you! Zank you!" Fleur burst through the crowd and kissed him on both cheeks. "You saved my sister!"

"And you helped!" Fleur turned to Ron, who was conveniently next to Harry, and kissed him on both cheeks as well. Ron face was plastered with a goofy smile and his eyes glazed over.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's enhanced voice boomed. Everyone's eyes turned away from Harry and Fleur to look at the headmaster.

Fleur planted her lips firmly on Harry's, knowing full well no one would see. Before Harry knew what was happening, Fleur had already pulled away. Fleur moved to his ear and whispered.

_Merci_

* * *

**And here it is, the last of my pre-written chapters. Starting next chapter, I'll be posting brand new stories. Be warned though, updates may be sporadic as my inspiration ebbs and flows.**

**I'd love to hear some feedback guys! What you guys thought, what you think I could improve on, maybe even what you might want to see in a future chapter?**


	6. A Letter

**I'm still coming off my high of writing these and just couldn't wait to put this out there.**

* * *

Dear Harry Potter,

It's been well over a century since we met. I remember when I first laid eyes on you. I thought you were the child that cheated his way into the Triwizard Tournament.

But I was wrong. You were forced into the tournament and managed to overcome every obstacle thrown in your way. And in the end, one of our fellow champions fell and a Dark Lord rose again.

I remember a night we shared days before the Beauxbatons Carriage departed Hogwarts. I was out for a walk when I found you, crying. This surprised me.

The boy, no, the _man,_ who defeated a Horntail, saved my sister, and faced the same dark lord more than once and lived was crying. I remember putting a hand on your shoulder. You looked up at me, tears running freely down your cheeks.

That's when I realized that even the strongest, the greatest, were not perfect. I had always strived to be the best, the most perfect. The perfect grades, the perfect life, the perfect champion. But here you were, one of the greatest people I had the pleasure of knowing, with imperfections. You were the epitome that even the great were flawed. I think that's when I began to fall for you.

We kept in contact while you finished your schooling at Hogwarts and I remained in France. That time was amazing. All the stories and jokes we told to each other. Like a teenage girl, I would often fantasize of a life with you.

I did date a few men in this time, but when the relationship was over, my mind would always drift to thoughts of you.

I saw you twice before the Battle of Hogwarts.

The first was at Dumbledore's Funeral. After the ceremony, we went for a walk around the lake, eventually returning to the spot where I had found you crying two years earlier. That is where we shared our first kiss.

The next time I saw you was on your birthday a few months later. We only saw each other for a few brief moments. When the Death Eaters attacked, I was completely terrified that I was going to lose you.

It nearly killed me not being able to see or contact you. But you found a way. You managed to send me messages despite me staying in a secret safehouse set up by the Order. Some were a handful of words scribbled on napkins. Others were entire letters written over a couple pages of paper. I couldn't reply, but your notes kept me going until Hogwarts.

Hogwarts. When I saw that green flash flare from the Forbidden Forrest, my heart shattered. How could have you done that? How could you have done that to all your friends? How could you have done that to _me?_

When I saw Hagrid carrying your lifeless corpse, I nearly broke down in tears. But I didn't, I channeled all my emotions into rage. I wanted to fire every curse I knew at as many Death Eaters as I could. When you jumped back to life, I did.

And in an instant, it was over. The war was finally over. Nothing could keep us separated.

Fast forward seven years. We were in the shade of a tree at a Muggle Park in Paris. We had been living together for what, 3 years? 4 years? It's irrelevant now. We had two flats. One in London and one in Paris. Our two dogs, Sirius and Lupin, ran in circles around us, chasing a rat I had transfigured from a rock.

I remember exactly how it happened. You were up against the tree while I relaxed on your chest. I was reading a book and you were keeping an eye on the dogs. You offered your hand and I absentmindedly took it. I felt something small in between our palms. When you released my hand, I probably gave the most cartoonish gasp you've ever heard. I turned to look at your grinning face. "Marry me?" Before I could answer, Sirius grabbed the ring from my palm and swallowed it whole. He stared at us with the most smug grin I had ever seen on a dog.

That night, once the ring was retrieved and thoroughly cleaned, I said yes.

You told me afterwards that asking my father was one of the most horrifying things you had ever done, stacking up with facing Voldemort and asking me out on our first official date.

Six months later, we were married. I became Fleur Potter. I still can't believe how we forgot how badly the men on your side would be affected by my family's Veela. We laughed at the memory of Ron's older brothers literally throwing him at my cousins for months.

We had three beautiful girls. I still remember countless nights of you telling me to go back to sleep and leaving to comfort each of our girls whenever any had nightmares.

We watched our girls grow up as the decades passed, each trying to live up to the name Potter. I'm pretty sure a Seeker, Healer and Auror live up to it fairly well.

We watched as our friends began to leave us. First, the older generation, then ours. One by one, until there were just a handful of us left.

Now, it is your turn. I'm writing this as you lay in bed next to me, relaxing in your final days. The radio is playing a song from our youth. A classic. I hope that I'm not long after you, because I don't know what I'll do once you are gone.

It's been over a century since we met. And my love for you has not died at all in those years. Because somehow, you've made me fall more in love with you with every passing day.

This when I finish this letter. This is when I lay my head on your chest. This is when we fall asleep listening to the radio.

_Au revoir, Mon Amour_

* * *

**Feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated. **


	7. Time

**Just a warning, this is a complete 180 from my more light hearted stuff, such as last chapter.  
**

**It's also a bit longer. I felt really inspired when I was writing this.**

* * *

Harry rotated the doorknob and cracked open the bedroom door, wincing with every squeak and groan it gave off.

He had had a long night at the Ministry with literally piles of paperwork. Harry generally avoided paperwork and was often out in the field, catching criminals and keeping the peace. This left the paperwork to accumulate on his desk over the past few months. Despite using magic, he worked for hours and still wasn't finished.

Harry tiptoed to the bed and smiled down at the sleeping form of his wife. Even in sleep, she was still the most beautiful thing he had seen.

He considered going back out and checking the wards on the grounds, but a yawn interrupted him before he could come to a decision.

"'Arry?" Fleur rubbed her eyes

"Sorry, did I wake you?" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"It's alright" Fleur yawned and stretched. Harry's eyes roamed all over her body. She looked at him with droopy eyes. "Well? Aren't you going to say 'ello to your wife?"

He could always check the wards in the morning.

* * *

Harry felt the bed shift.

"Fleur? What are you doing? It's not even light out." Harry croaked.

"I 'eard something." The Veela kissed his cheek. "Stay in bed, _mon amour. _I'll be right back."

"Mmm." Harry moaned in reply. Fleur slipped out the door, leaving it slightly ajar behind her.

Harry began slipping into the warm embrace of unconsciousness when it happened. A scream and a green glow. The most prominent nightmare from his childhood flashed in his mind. No. Not again. Not like his mother.

No.

He immediately shot out of bed, wand at the ready.

No.

He found her in the living room.

This wasn't happening.

He clutched her hand, tears welling up in his eyes.

Not again.

* * *

The attacker was a former Death Eater that was running from aurors. The aurors were closing in on him, so he was breaking into homes, trying to find a safe place to hide. He stumbled upon the Potter home after tearing through the forest behind the house. He found a hole in the wards of the Potter home and slipped in, running back out after he had killed Fleur.

Aurors found a blood soaked Harry standing over the body an hour later. He was simply staring off into the distance, emerald eyes devoid of any emotion. The aurors wrote in each of their reports that the body was mutilated beyond recognition. Harry wrote in his report that he used 'necessary force'.

Harry had accepted the inevitability of death. It was a natural part of life, in the end, it happened to everyone. He was completely content with dying, on his own terms. To die by the hand of another, that was unacceptable

To have his love murdered... no, he was going to fix that.

Harry threw himself into his studies, trying to find something that would fix this. Hours turned into days. Days into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into years.

Friends came to check in on him, only to be yelled away. Letters piled up, completely ignored. Food rotted in the cupboards, Harry had turned to living off of take out ordered by owl. Most of the house was left untouched; Harry spent all of his time in his study, searching for an answer.

Finally, after five years, he found it. It was an ancient Mayan spell from over 2000 years ago. There were no known successful recordings of this spell, but Harry only cared about one thing; that it could send him back in time to his former self. He could save her!

* * *

It worked.

There he was, grasping the doorknob to his room. No, _their_ room.

Before he entered, he waved his wand, checking the wards. He found the hole and patched it. For good measure, he conjured a pair of dogs, ordering them to patrol the grounds.

Harry cracked open the door to their bedroom, not even fazed by the squeaks and groans. He tiptoed to Fleur's sleeping form, almost crying with excitement. She was right in front of him! She yawned.

"'arry?" Fleur rubbed her eyes.

He didn't respond, just smiled.

"'arry? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong." Harry transfigured his robes into pajamas. "Just..."

"Just?"

"I love you." Harry climbed in and kissed her. He had longed to do that again for years.

"I love you too." Fleur replied sleepily, cuddling up next to him.

When Harry woke up the next morning, he felt her presence next to him. She was still there. He had done it. He had saved her.

Her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning." Harry kissed her forehead.

"Morning." She buried her face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling it. "What are you doing today?" Fleur murmured into his neck.

Harry was about to answer 'nothing', but remembered he had a job to do and inwardly groaned.

"Gotta go back to work, tons of paperwork to do." Fleur groaned at his answer.

"Do you 'ave to?"

"I do, love, sorry." Harry traced circles on her back. "What about you? What do you have planned today?"

"I 'ave the day off from St. Mungo's, so I was zinking of going to Diagon Alley, doing some shopping." Fleur yawned again. "Probably replace ze ingredients you used last week trying to find ze formula to Butterbeer." She added.

Harry remembered that. He had the day off the week before and decided to try to recreate Butterbeer. The closest he got to the formula tasted just slightly off and caused him horrible diarrhea.

"Shut up, I got close!"

Harry was almost lost at the Ministry and nearly sat down at the wrong desk. He had quit when Fleur passed, so he hadn't technically step foot in the Ministry in five years. Thinking back, he had hardly left his home for those five years. And it was totally worth it.

He went to work with a smile on his face. Nothing would bring him down today. When he was about to leave for his lunch break, he was approached by none other than the Minister himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Hey Minister, what's up?" Harry shook Kingsley's hand enthusiastically. He was grinning ear to ear.

"Harry, something has happened, and I felt I should be the one to tell you." Kingsley bowed his head. Harry didn't notice the Minister of Magic's somber tone.

"What, another prophecy about me?" Harry joked.

"No, an incident occurred, with your wife."

Harry froze.

"What?" Harry's mind instantly went to the worst possible thought.

"There was... an incident in Diagon Alley. Fleur, she did not make it." The joy drained form his face and Harry collapsed into his seat. Kingsley put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Harry, I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

"Harry, I'm not su-"

"What happened!" Heads turned in their direction.

Kingsley gestured at the aurors to return to their work. He summoned a chair and sat down across from Harry.

"Some children in the apothecary thought it would be fun to throw random potions ingredients into a bubbling cauldron. The combination released poisonous gas into the shop. Fleur helped get as many people as she could out. She refused any treatment until the others were attended to. When the healers arrived," Kingsley paused, not wanting to finish the sentence. "She saved many lives today, Harry." Kingsley touched Harry's knee. "I'm sorry."

No.

He was going back again.

* * *

And there he was, back in bed. Fleur was right there in his arms.

"Morning." She buried her face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling it. "What are you doing today?" Fleur murmured into his neck.

"You've never been around London right?" Harry was going to save her, again.

"No, I 'aven't. Why?"

"I was thinking I call in sick at work and you and I explore London today. I haven't been around the city in a long time. What better day than today?"

Fleur chewed her lip for a moment before speaking.

"Would it really be okay if you called in sick?"

"Of course, I saved the Wizarding World twice, I think that deserves a free day off or two." Laughter, sweet laughter that was music to his ears.

"Okay."

So they spent the day in London. They walked up and down the streets, Fleur dragging him into nearly every clothing shop they came across. Harry would roll his eyes in feigned annoyance every time.

Thankfully, Harry didn't have to carry any bags. After every excursion into a store, they magically sent the bags to their living room.

They had dinner in a quaint French restaurant. Fleur had really enjoyed herself as this was the first time she had authentic French cuisine since they visited her family for Christmas. It was the first time he had anything other than crappy take out in 5 years.

They had decided to walk around aimlessly after eating. So after they exited the restaurant, they picked and direction and walked hand in hand.

"You know what?" Fleur said after a few blocks.

"What?"

"I love you, 'arry Potter." She pecked him on the lips.

"And I love you too, Fleur Potter."

She glanced over his shoulder and her eyes widened. Something had caught her eye.

"And you know what I would like right now, something that would make this moment perfect?"

"Let me guess," He followed her gaze. "Flowers?"

"_Oui._"

"Alright then, wait right here. Don't move." Harry pointed downwards. Fleur simply nodded.

Harry jogged across the street to the small flower shop that was surprisingly still open this late. A smiling older woman stood behind the counter.

"A dozen roses please." As the woman retrieved the flowers, Harry got out his wallet and began counting out the money.

A shriek. A crash. The constant blare of a car horn. Harry looked across the way. A car stood where Fleur just was.

No.

Harry sprinted towards the crash.

No. No!

Someone had moved the occupant off the wheel of the car, cutting off the blaring.

Not again!

Fleur laid on her side against the wall, blood running down her face.

Not again!

Harry slid to his knees, cradling Fleur's head in his lap.

"Fleur?" Harry choked out between sobs. "Fleur, please be okay, please be okay, please be okay! PLEASE!" He sobbed. Harry tried to cast some healing spells, but violent tremors ran through his hand and his mind was too much of a mess to cast anything.

"'arry?" Her remained shut and her lips barely moved.

"Fleur? I'm right here." Harry lowered his head as much as possible. Tears fell from his face onto hers. "I'm right here."

"'arry, I..."

"No no no no, Fleur, save whatever you want to say when you get better? Okay?" Harry croaked.

"No, 'arry," She stopped. Harry's eyes widened in panic. Had he already lost her? But then she spoke again, barely above a whisper. "I love you." And then she was gone. Just like that.

The next few hours were a blur. He was side apparated to the Ministry. Someone handed him a cup of water he didn't drink. Questions were asked that were met with silence or curt, monotone replies. Someone guided him into an office.

"Harry, I'm truly sorry for your loss." Harry snapped out of his stupor. He was sitting in Kingsley's office. The older man was leaning on the front of the desk, standing right in front of Harry.

"I couldn't save her." Harry muttered to himself.

"You don't need to blame yourself, Harry." Kingsley put a consoling hand on Harry's shoulder. "It was an accident, there was nothing you could do."

"If I go back again, maybe it'll be different." He considered casting the spell again. "No, the outcome would be the same. I can't fix it."

"Excuse me?"

"No, no matter how much I go back." Harry continued to speak to himself. "It won't change."

"Harry, I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"No matter what I do, I can't save her."

All the pieces came together.

Just like it was his destiny to survive the Killing Curse twice, it was her destiny to die. He had cheated Death twice, the third time was the charm. Death wanted a soul. It didn't have to be his. So it took her's.

No matter what he did, all he was able to do was give her a few more hours of life. He had to accept the inevitable. He had to accept he had lost her. Forever.

* * *

**Reading back on this, I realize that this is a bit melodramatic and kind of really really cheesy. I hope you guys enjoyed it though. I know I enjoyed writing it.  
**

**Feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	8. Snowball's Chance

Had it really been a year?

Harry touched the invitation, the portkey instantly activating and transporting him to the party. Harry's portkey skills had improved since 4th year, so he managed to land on his feet and not humiliate himself in front of a bunch of politicians and diplomats.

Today was the first anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts. The British Ministry was still cleaning house and recovering from the damage caused by Voldemort's regime, so the French Ministry offered to host the event. The British Ministry gratefully accepted the offer.

The Boy-Who-Lived had received the invitation months earlier. He couldn't really deny the invitation because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, twice.

Harry had landed in a large room away from the main gala. Other people were landing around him, so he surmised that this was where people arrived.

He walked toward the door, which had two guards posted on either side and a young red haired witch on the other side of the threshold.

"Name?" She requested, looking down at a scroll of parchment in her hand.

"Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Of all ze names on zis list, you chose zat one?"

"Really, I am!" Harry revealed his forehead. Her eyes widened as she realized he was telling the truth. "See?"

"O-oh! _Merde_!" Her face flushed an embarrassing shade of pink, nearly matching her hair. "I'm s-so sorry Monsieur Potter." She checked off his name on the parchment. "P-please, walk straight down zis hallway and you will reach ze ballroom." She managed to stutter out, trying to hide her face behind the parchment in humiliation.

"It's alright." Harry patted her shoulder. "We all make mistakes, relax." The girl nodded slowly. He turned and began walking down the hallway.

At the end of the hall was another pair of guards. When Harry came within steps of them, they wordlessly opened the door to the main event.

It was a large room with a main floor that was populated by dozens witches and wizards. There was a grand staircase on the far end that led to the second floor that overlooked the first floor. Between the two floors, Harry estimated there was around 200 or 300 hundred magical folk there. Floating trays levitated through the crowd, allowing the party goers to pick drinks off them.

Harry saw a vaguely familiar face here and there, but most of the people there were unknown to him. Of course this would be a party for the ones who barely did anything and not the ones who actually risked there lives.

A couple of people recognized him and grabbed his hand, thanking him for saving the world, again.

"Harry!" A familiar voice called to him. A couple heads turned in his direction.

"Sirius!" Harry threw an arm around his Godfather.

During the commotion at the Department of Mysteries, Sirius was knocked out by a blasting hex. He had lost a chunk of his arm, causing copious amounts of blood to spurt from his arm. Harry thought that Sirius had died, and flew into a blind rage against the caster of the blasting hex, Bellatrix Lestrange. Thankfully, Sirius recovered from his injuries within the month and went on to live through the end of the war and was absolved of all crimes.

"How are you doing, pup?" Sirius grabbed two glasses from a passing tray, handing one to Harry. "See anyone you like?" Sirius waved a finger across the crowd. "I think I saw a couple Veela here."

"No I'm alright." Harry rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "But try to keep it in your pants tonight, alright?"

"Key word is try, pup." Sirius downed the rest of his drink with a single gulp. He grabbed Harry by the arm and began dragging the young man through the crowd. "C'mon, I think I saw some ladies eying us." Harry just smiled at Sirius' antics and allowed himself to be dragged along.

Sirius brought them near two gorgeous blonde witches. Both seemed to be excitedly whispering to each other, quick glances being thrown in the male's direction. Judging by the hungry eyes of nearly every male in the immediate vicinity and the somewhat familiar tugs of allure, Harry guessed that they were a pair of Veela.

"Alright Harry." Sirius grabbed both of Harry's shoulders and stared into his eyes. "I'll go soften them up, and when I think they're ready, I'll call you over, and you'll dazzle them by being the Boy-Who-Lived, alright?" The animagus didn't wait for an answer. "Alright do I look okay?" Sirius patted his hair. "Who am I kidding, I always look amazing." Sirius sauntered over to the women.

Harry leaned on a pillar, observing Sirius. He seemed to be moderately taken by the allure, he wasn't doing any ridiculous antics to show off.

"Interesting, is it not?" A familiar voice said next to him. He felt the tug of allure. Harry turned his head to find none other than Fleur Delacour.

"Fleur?"

"'arry." She greeted. "Seems your friend has taken a liking to my cousins." Fleur pointed at Sirius, who was now taken completely by the allure. He had taken off his shirt and began flexing for the girls, who just giggled at the godfather. Harry couldn't blame them, Sirius hadn't really bothered to try to build much muscle since escaping Azkaban.

"What are you doing here?" He fully turned to face her.

"My Fazzer is ze 'ead Auror. 'e was invited with ze ozzer 'eads of departments." Fleur glanced back at Sirius again, who was doing pushups in the middle of an amused crowd. "What about you, Monsieur Potter?"

"Oh you know, saved the Wizarding World twice," Harry said nonchalantly. "No big deal."

"Oh is zat all?" Fleur spoke coolly. "Zey shouldn't 'ave wasted ze invitation."

Their eyes met and they burst out laughing. In the years since the Triwizard Tournament, the former champions maintained contact with another. It wasn't much, just a handful of letters a year, but it was enough to build a friendship. But their correspondence had waned in recent months.

"So how are you, Fleur?"

"I'm fine, just entertaining politicians for my fazzer." An older couple walked by the pair and Fleur nodded respectfully at them. "Zose were ze Dauphins, zey're ze heads of a pureblood family 'ere. Zeir son is the undersecretary to our Minister."

"Bu-" Fleur hushed him before he could speak any more. Her eyes were fixated on someone in the crowd.

"_Merde." _She said under her breath.

"What?"

"Pierre. We need to go, now." Fleur grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away.

"Wait, what? Who's Pierre?" Harry stopped her.

"Zis spoiled brat zat zinks 'e should get whatever 'e pleases." Her eyes darted over his shoulder. "Including me." Harry could sense the seriousness in her voice.

"Lead the way." Harry looked back, catching a glimpse of a young man standing were they just were, eyes scanning the crowd for who he assumed was Fleur.

* * *

The building they were in was huge. It could probably fit a party 5 times this side quite comfortably. When asked about the building, Fleur just explained that it was a building made specifically for high end festivities for the French Ministry, such as that night's. She led him down multiple hallways and finally to an empty parlor, where she promptly fell onto a couch and removed her high heels.

"Be grateful you are not a woman, 'arry." She rubbed her aching feet. "Or you'd be sitting with me, massaging your feet."

"So who's Pierre?" Harry plopped down next to the quarter Veela.

"Ugh, zis insufferable leetle boy." She said 'leetle boy' with disdain.

"Like me?" Harry smirked.

"You were not insufferable." Fleur smirked back, making no move to change the 'leetle boy' comment. "

"Still a 'leetle boy'?"

"Still."

"What's so bad about Pierre anyways?" Fleur face faltered slightly.

"'e comes from zis rich family, 'e's been pampered 'is whole life. Ze best tutors, brooms, equipment, everything!" Fleur threw her hands up in exasperation. "But 'e is an idiot, 'e only managed to graduate Beauxbatons the year after mine because 'is parents 'anded the boards of directors a fat bag of gold."

"So how were you thrown into the mix?"

"A few months ago, I was at an event wiz my parents. Ze buffoon spotted me from across ze room. In our first conversation, all 'e talked about was 'imself. About 'ow much gold he has, 'ow big 'is parent's home is, 'ow many girls 'e bedded." She shook her head in disgust.

"Really? He actually said that?" Harry had trouble believing anyone could be like that. Then again, Malfoy was like that in his earlier years.

"_Qui. _'e's been pestering me for months. 'e actually zinks 'e 'as a chance! 'e 'as as much of a chance as a," She struggled to find the proper metaphor.

"A snowball's chance in hell?" Harry offered.

"Exactly, a snowball's chance." She chuckled.

This went into the wee hours of the morning. Their conversation transitioned from Pierre to their current lives to who would win in a fight, an angry veela or a mermaid. Fleur defended her heritage while Harry argued for the mermaids. Harry eventually slipped into the lull of slumber.

* * *

"Harry! Harry! Where are you!?" A voice roused Harry from his slumber.

Harry rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"Harry!" The voice was louder, or was it closer?

"Here!" He croaked out. After a moment, the door opened and Sirius' head popped in.

"Harry! Good morning!" Sirius smiled merrily. "I've been looking for you for all night! Well, since I woke up 10 minutes ago in between two Veela." Sirius's hand went up for a high five, but was left hanging by Harry's yawns.

"Mhmm." Harry grunted.

"Hey, what's that?" Sirius pointed at a floating piece of parchment floating a few feet from the couch. 'Harry' in cursive was written on it.

"I don't know." Harry snatched it out of the air. "For me though." Harry turned to the other side of the parchment, where there was a short note.

_Harry,_

_I'm sorry I left you. I just didn't want to deal with the proverbial walk of shame in the morning and the questions from my mother when I got home._

_I really enjoyed our talk last night. We should really do that again sometime. Maybe over some tea? _

_Yours Truly,_

_Fleur Isabelle Delacour_

Without warning, Sirius snatched the note out of Harry's hand, eyes quickly scanning it.

"Harry!" Sirius cried with a massive grin. "I think 'tea' is code for sex!"

* * *

**Oh Sirius, you dog.**

**Feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	9. Gray

**Not too long this time.**

* * *

Fleur stared at the single strand of hair resting in her palm. She blinked away tears. It was gray.

The difference of color between her blonde hair and this gray hair was subtle, she had almost missed it herself. But she still found it.

She fell into their bed, tears now beginning to stream down her face.

Thoughts rushed through her mind. She was getting old. She was getting ugly. He was observant. He wouldn't miss the gray. He wouldn't love her anymore. He was going to leave her. She was going to die alone.

There was a sudden rush of flames in the other room as someone emerged from the floo.

He was home. He was going to come in and look at her in all her ugliness.

She tried to wipe away the tears, if this was going to end, she was going to at least look presentable.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Harry knocked on their bedroom door, gently pushing it open. Harry's eyes fell on his crying love sitting on the bed. "Fleur? What's wrong?" He immediately rushed to her side, placing comforting hand on her shoulders. She shrugged his hands off, standing up and stepping away from him. "Fleur?"

"No, don't look at me." Fleur turned away, burying her face in her hands.

"Fleur, please, tell me what's wrong." Harry slowly approached her. He gently turned her toward him.

"'arry, I am 'ideous."

"What?" Harry peeled her hands from her face and grasped them. "You're beautiful." His eyes bore into her own.

"No 'arry. You don't understand." Fleur's hands slipped out of his own. "I found... I found a gray 'air." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That's it?" Harry chuckled. "Merlin, I thought something was actually wrong."

"'arry! 'ow can you not take zis seriously!" Fleur's emotional switch rapidly flipped from dismal to enraged. "I am ugly! I am not beautiful anymore! You won't love me anymore!" As quickly as she became angry, she fell into a fit of tears and collapsed onto the ground in a crying heap. Harry quickly kneeled down on both legs next to her.

"Fleur," He hushed. "I love you, I always will." He rubbed her back until the sobs gradually became quieter and quieter. Harry wiped away a tear with his thumb. "I never fell in love with you because you were beautiful, although that is a plus." This elicited a small chuckle from her. "I fell in love with you because you were a smart, intelligent, brave young woman. You fought for your school in the tournament and fought Death Eaters when we went up against Voldemort all those years ago." Harry laid his forehead on her own. "And I love you for your quirks and mannerisms. Like when you do that adorable little stretch when you wake up or how you still can't say my name right after all these years."

"'arry..."

"See!" Another chuckle from her. "Most of all, I love you for who you are, not for who you look like." Harry kissed her forehead. "You're perfect."

* * *

**Feedback and Criticism is appreciated.**


	10. Recall

_Italics _**will not be French this chapter. It'll be the conversations between Harry and himself during the memory portion. It'll make sense when you read it, trust me.**

**Also, this isn't necessarily true Flurry, but I still think it is still worth reading.**

* * *

The girl left the infirmary, tears in her eyes, leaving a bewildered Harry sitting on a bed. Harry looked at the medi-witch.

"Who was that Madam Pomfrey?"

"She's Fleur Delacour. She was, is..." Pomfrey shook her head. "Mr. Potter, you took a nasty bump to the head that affected you memory. I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer as truthfully as you can, alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Harry nodded slowly.

"What is the date?"

"November First, 1994." Harry's eyes widened in panic. "My name was picked by the Goblet last night! I have to compete in the tournament!"

"No no no, Mr. Potter, it's alright." Pomfrey laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It the end of your fourth year, it seems the bump wiped out most of this year."

"Merlin..." Harry whispered under his breath.

"It's going to be okay, Mr. Potter, I just need to ask a few more questions before I figure out how to fix this." Harry nodded in response.

After a few minutes of questioning, Pomfrey came to a conclusion. Harry simply had amnesia. How long it would last, she didn't know. She would have liked to have him recover the majority of his memories over the course of a few months with a potion regimen, but Dumbledore said that she needed to get him back to one hundred percent as soon as possible. But there was one glaring issue, Harry had completely forgotten about Fleur Delacour. It seemed that every interaction, ranging from the most minor to the prominent, came up blank.

She went into her office, calling a House Elf and sending it to St. Mungo's with a note for the head healer, she had to call in an old favor.

Pomfrey went back out to the infirmary and sat down in a chair next to Harry. The boy was sitting up, his mind off in a distant place.

"Mr. Potter?" Harry snapped out of his daydream. "I've just sent for a memory recovering potion from St. Mungo's."

"St. Mungo's? Don't you already have some memory potions here?"

"I do, but they are not very potent, they allow to drinker to remember the last day or two at most." The House Elf popped back with a vial. It handed the potion to Madam Pomfrey and bowed before popping back to the kitchen.

"Is that it?"

"Yes." Pompfrey raised the vial of black liquid to eye level. "It's called Rekall." She handed it to Harry.

"I just drink it?" He examined the liquid.

"Yes, the effects should be immediate."

"What's going to happen?" He looked up from the vial and into her eyes.

"Essentially, you'll go to sleep and in a few hours you have your memories back."

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"Well..." Harry raised an eyebrow. Madam Pomfrey sighed. "The effects have never been consistent. Some just have a dreamless sleep and wake with their memories. Others claim to have visions. Others say that they actually relived whatever was lost. All I can say is, good luck Mr. Potter."

Harry glanced down at the vial and looked back up as Madam Pomfrey one last time. He nodded at her before tilting his head back and pouring the liquid down his throat.

* * *

"Wake uuuup." A voice beckoned. "Wake uuuuup." Harry's eyelids gradually rose. "Good! You're up!"

"Wha-What's going on?"

"You're in your memories!" The voice was excessively cheery.

"What?"

"You heard me! We're hanging out in your memories!"

Harry took a moment to look around him. He sat on his bed in the Gryffindor Dorms. Light filtering in through the window made it seem to be somewhere between morning and midday.

"What, no, I'm in my dorm." Harry called out to the voice. "Where are you anyways?" No one was in the room other than himself.

Suddenly, a bright flame materialized out of thin air, causing Harry to jump in surprise. It was a tennis ball sized flame just hovering in the air.

"No, I'm pretty sure we're in your memories, or else I wouldn't be here!" The ball or fire spun excitedly. "We're in your head. This is just a manifestation in your mind, something familiar to help you recover some lost memories."

"Right." Harry stood up from his bed walked to the flame. "That's what I came here to do, now how do I do it?"

"Follow me!" The ball of flame hovered towards the door, which opened on its own.

"What are you anyways?" Harry followed.

"Oh, you know, you." The flame happily bobbed along. "Well, a projection of part of your personality in your mind."

"What?"

"I'm you." It said plainly. It quickly changed the subject. "You know, you say 'what' a lot." The flame stopped in the air. If it had eyes, Harry bet they would be examining him. "You should probably get that checked out." They continued into the common room where the flame bobbed next to the cold fireplace. "Alright, here we are!"

"The common room, and?"

"Oh right!" The flame shot in the fireplace, instantly igniting the flames. "Okay, stick your head in!"

"No! I'll get burned!"

"We're in your head, remember? Nothing's gonna hurt, unless you have a seizure or something... but that's a conversation for another time." Harry could feel the flame grinning at him. "Besides, I'm you! Would you ever lie to yourself?"

"No, I guess not." Harry shrugged. "Just stick my head in?"

"Yup."

"And I'll get my memories back?"

"Pretty much."

"Here goes nothing. " Harry took a deep breath and dove into the flames. The ball of fire was right, it didn't hurt.

* * *

"_Alright, and in we go!" The flame's voice echoed in Harry's mind. It popped into existence next to him. They floated in a black space, countless white stars glittering around them like stars._

_A memory was coming to life before Harry. Harry floated above the scene as the memory came together. It looked like thousands of the white squares coming together and gaining color, becoming part of the environment._

"_What's happening?" Harry sent a sideways glance at the flame before looking back down at the forming scene._

"_You lost your memories remember? This is your memories reforming." The fire bobbed up and down. "Pretty cool ain't it?"_

_The memory completed itself. It was a rocky arena that Harry didn't recognize. He looked at the empty stands and pointed a thumb at them._

"_Where's everyone?"_

"_Not important." Harry raised an eyebrow. "They didn't have any direct involvement with your memory. Their role in your memory didn't matter, so there's no need to remember them." The flame suddenly grew brighter in excitement. "Oh! It's starting!"_

_Harry looked down and a massive spiked dragon formed out of the white squares, gaining different shades of brown and red. He, or really, his memory of himself, formed at the entrance to the arena. His mouth was agape as the scene unfolded. _

_He couldn't believe it. He beat a dragon. And the flame next to him was cheering and whooping the entire time. _

Harry sat on the edge of a cot in the Medical Tent. Madam Pomfrey insisted that he rest for a few moments before facing the press.

"I 'ave underestimated you, Mr. Potter." A feminine voice said behind him. "You 'ad an impressive performance."

"You were pretty good too, Fleur." Harry turned to face his fellow champion. "You alright? That fire looked pretty bad."

"It was nozzing. Veela are naturally resistant to fire." Fleur waved off his concern. "May I?" She gestured at the cot.

"Yeah, sure." Harry scooted over to make a little more room for her. "So what brings you here? You didn't come here just to say I did alright, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I just-" Fleur looked all around them, searching for something. "-wanted to apologize." She whispered as if wanting no ears to hear other than Harry's.

"For?" Harry cocked an eyebrow.

"Calling you a leetle boy." Fleur looked down at her lap shamefully. "I'm sorry, 'arry."

"S'alright." Harry said in an understanding tone. "We all make mistakes when we aren't thinking. Besides, I actually forgot about that until now." Harry shrugged.

"Still, I insulted you when you are clearly more than capable in zis tournament." Harry put a hand on her shoulder than was furthest from him.

"Relax Fleur, don't worry about it."

**SNAP**

"Oh oh oh Harry," Rita Skeeter appeared out of nowhere with her cameraman. "Two girls in one day? Naughty boy."

_The memory paused before breaking apart into the white squares._

"_That girl...she the one from the infirmary!"_

"_Yup." The flame bobbed sagely._

"_Who is she?"_

"_I dunno, I know as much as you."_

"_And what did Rita mean by 'two girls in one day'?"_

"_Beats me, you'll know once you get all your memories back."_

"_Is that it?" Harry looked to his side at the flame. "What about the rest of the memory?"_

"_Huh, I'm not really sure." The flame floated near his face. _

_Suddenly Harry felt a rush of pain surge from his lightning scar. The pain was so unbearable he curled up in a ball. Images and sounds rushed into his mind. His memories! He was getting them back! The pain subsided after a few moments._

"_Wow, that was pretty cool!" The flame chirped. "Hmmm, looking at your memories, looks like you recovered a good portion of them."_

"_Really?" Harry rubbed his head._

"_Yup. I'm guessing that watching that memory triggered something in your mind, letting loose some of your memories."_

_Harry peered into his memories. It seemed like Hermione and He had hugged and Rita took it out of context and blew it out of proportion for an article, as always._

"_Looks like the next memory is starting! Grab some popcorn!" A bowl of popcorn popped into existence in front of the pair. Popcorn floated from the bowl and into the flame, burning into blackened crisps. "Mmmm, ash flavor."_

_The white squares came together to form a new scene. This time it was at the covered bridge in the night. Candles burned periodically, illuminating the bridge. Some white squares hardly changed color, making Harry assume it was snow._

_Two figures materialized, each facing the other and leaning against the wood railing._

"I-I love you."

Fleur answered by pressing her lips against his. Once they came up for air, Fleur whispered, "Je t'aime trop."

"Wow." Harry said breathlessly.

"What?" Fleur grinned as her arms snaked around his neck.

"That was my first kiss." Harry rested his forehead against hers.

"I wonder if your second kiss will be as great..." Deviousness glinted in Fleur's eye.

"I don't know, do you really want to do this? Especially about Rita's article about us?" Harry stopped her from kissing him again.

"You do know 'ow to ruin a moment, Mr. Potter." Harry smiled sheepishly. "Worry about zat later, all zat matters is us, right now, right 'ere. Absolutely nozzing else."

Harry slowly nodded in agreement. "Now, about that second kiss?"

_The memory abruptly ended._

"_So that girl, Fleur, she and I?" Harry looked at his bright companion._

"_Seems so, me."_

"_So when she ran out of the infirmary..."_

"_Yup."_

_The pain from earlier suddenly returned and Harry felt his memories rushing back. They filled in all the blanks. _

_Over a short period, their friendship budded. Despite this, they ended up going to the Yule Ball with different dates. However, they did share a dance. By New Year's, Harry realized he had fallen for her. This memory took place the night before the start of the term._

_Another one of his memories began to form. It was night again. White squares formed dark gravestones. The scene look to be focused on a clearing of grass. _

_A handful of cloaked figures stood on one end of the clearing while a pair crouched opposite behind a pair of gravestones._

"Harry, Harry, Harry." Voldemort chuckled. "We aren't playing hide and seek. Why don't you and your Veela whore step out?"

"She is not a whore!" Harry barked.

"Fine, fine." Voldemort hushed. "Why don't you and your female companion step out so we can have a civil discussion?"

Harry looked to Fleur who furious shook her head.

"We can't!" She whispered.

"What other option do we have?" He raised both his hand, palms facing up. "One on hand, we stand up and talk. On the other, he comes over here with his Death Eaters and kills us." After deliberating with herself for a moment, Fleur reached out her hand.

"Fine." Harry took it and they both stood, revealing themselves to Lord Voldemort and the assembled Death Eaters.

"Good boy, Harry. I was hoping you would see reason." Voldemort's mouth curled into a ghoulish grin. "Now, have you ever had a proper duel?"

"What? You said we'd be having a discussion!"

"No? Curious, I assumed the old man would train you." Voldemort ignored Harry's outburst. "Pity, I hoped for a challenge for my first duel after returning to the land of the living. Can't always get what you wish for, I suppose." The bald man shrugged casually.

"I'm not dueling you!" Harry stepped forward, gripping Fleur's hand tighter. All the Death Eaters raised their wands at the couple.

"As you can see, you don't have a choice, Harry." He pointed at the couple's conjoined hands. "Now if you may, duels are typically one on one."

Harry hesitantly looked back at Fleur, slowly nodding his head and began releasing her hand. Tears began to pool in her eyes.

"Je t'aime." The Veela croaked out.

"I love you too." Their fingertips slid past each other and their hands fell. Harry faced his adversary and withdrew his wand.

"You do know first step of dueling, correct?" Voldemort didn't wait for Harry to answer. "You bow." Harry didn't bow. "Bow, Harry." Voldemort's finger twitched, forcing Harry's body to move. "Excellent." The pale man raised his arms to his sides. "Now, to keep things interesting, I'll allow you to take the first shot."

As soon as the words left the snake man's mouth, Harry fired a Stupefy. It rebounded off an invisible shield, flying into the sky.

"Is that all? I thought Hogwarts claimed its curriculum was one of the best." Voldemort flicked his wand, sending a Stupefy at Harry. It sent him flying back and onto his back. "Now that was a stunner, Harry. Not full power, of course, wouldn't want to knock you out in our duel to the death, would we?"

"'arry!" Fleur rushed to his side. "'Arry are you alright!" She rested her palm against his cheek. He coughed and sputtered.

"How romantic." Voldemort chortled. "Two lovers, dying in each other's arms. Quite poetic." Voldemort flicked his wand again, this time sending a green light at the couple.

Harry's knuckles were white from how tightly he gripped his wand as he fired an Expelliarmus. The red and green beams met in the middle, coalescing into a golden ball of light. Harry managed to pull himself to his feet, pushing Fleur behind him.

The Death Eaters raised the wands and began to approach the couple.

"No! The boy is mine!" Voldermort barked as his Death Eaters. They immediately backed away.

Harry poured all of his energy into maintaining the beam, he couldn't let the killing curse get near them. The golden orb shifted back and forth, it would move a few feet in one direction, then a few feet in the other, only to return to the first direction.

Smoke began to burst from the golden orb. It began to consolidate into different forms above him. The first was an older man he vaguely recognized. Next was a woman he didn't recognize at all. Then there were two people he definitely recognized.

"Harry, you have to let go." His mother said.

"What? No!" Harry pushed even more, he was running out of energy.

"Harry! Don't argue with us!" His father's head kept switching between watching Voldemort and Harry. "We'll be able to distract him, but only for a second!" The two people he didn't recognize nodded.

"Please, Harry." His mother pleaded. Harry looked both his parents in the eye before answering.

"Fine!"

His mother looked at him then at Fleur. "Take care of my boy." Fleur only nodded.

"Now!" His father barked, and all four spirits rushed Voldemort and his crew. They exploded into thick smoke, shrouding the killers.

"Hold on!" Harry squeezed Fleur hand tightly as he summoned the cup. Just before the cup reached them, a green light flashed out of the smoke. It impacted on a gravestone next to them, sending rocks flying. A large one struck Harry's head as the cup reached his waiting hands.

"_Looks like that's it." The flame said as the memory fell apart. "Looks like you're gonna get your memories back!" It cheered gleefully._

"_Was that Voldemort... and my parents?" Harry's mind was still reeling from what he just watched._

"_Seems so. Big old Voldermort is back..." The flame's excitement died instantly. "But on the plus side, memories! So, yay!" And then it was back up again. "Oooooh, looks like this one is gonna be a doozy."_

"_What? What do you mean?"_

"_Gonna be a pretty big chunk of memories, about half a school year. Gonna hurt, a lot!" The flame's glee when it said this was somewhat unsettling. "Probably gonna hurt so much, like a kick to the head! Just gotta ride it to consciousness!"_

_The pain started as soon as it finished._

"_There we go! Bye now! Don't forget to send me a postcard!"_

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and inhaled deeply and quickly. He instantly felt someone at his side.

"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey waved a wand over him, casting numerous diagnostic charms.

"I remember." He muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"I remember." Harry stared the medi-witch dead in the eye. "All of it."

* * *

**So I watched _Total Recall (2012)_ and I just felt inspired, at least by the part dealing with memories and such. Also, is it just me or did anyone else get pissed off that they pretty much changed the entire plot, especially the end? Then again, Kate Beckinsale was hot as hell (as always) despite her craziness, so I guess that sort of balances things out.**

**Also, I referenced some _Inception_ because I can.**

**Feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	11. Water

**Just to note, Gabrielle is younger than she is in the books.**

**Also, there's quite a bit of French. All of it was translated using Google Translate, so I apologize for my butchering of the French language.**

* * *

Fleur and Harry were babysitting four 9-year-olds today. Luc and Felix were Fleur and Gabrielle's twin cousins on their Father's side while Aimee was another Quarter-Veela on their Mother's side.

All their parents had spontaneously decided to go on a parents only outing for the day. At just barely 21 years old, Fleur was the oldest non-married child on either side of the family, leaving her to be in charge of the four 9-year-olds.

Harry was dragged into this because he and Fleur had made plans for the whole day. But when he arrived at the Delacour Manor to pick her up, he met Fleur trying to keep Luc and Felix from mixing random potions ingredients together while Gabrielle and Aimee applied makeup on each other. Needless to say, the plans were canceled and Harry had to wrestle down the twins while Fleur handled the girls.

Then Harry suggested taking them to the beach.

"_Plage! __Plage! __Plage!__" _Felix and Luc chanted._ "__Nous voulons aller à la plage! Allons à la plage!__"_

"_Veuillez s'il vous plaît s'il vous plaît, pouvons-nous aller!" _Aimee clutched Fleur's hand. _"__Veuillez s'il vous plaît s'il vous plaît!"_

Fleur glared at Harry, who stood sheepishly off to the side, watching the situation unfold. All four children surrounded her and tugged at her clothes, pleading to go to the beach.

He mouthed, "Sorry."

Fleur just continued her glare. After a few more minutes of begging, she finally gave in.

"_Très bien." _Fleur sighed. She flicked her wand over the four children, transfiguring all their clothes into colorful bathing suits. _"__Obtenir ce dont nous avons besoin, emballé. Posez les elfes de maison si vous avez besoin d'aide ou si vous avez oublié quelque chose.__" _All four children cheered and ran off into the mansion, grabbing whatever they think they needed.

"Sorry Fleur." Harry chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"You idiot." Fleur punched his shoulder softly. "I'm sorry, for not telling you zat I 'ad to cancel."

"It's alright," Harry shrugged. "As long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."

"Shut up, you don't mean zat." Fleur smiled.

"I do." Harry stepped closed to her, closing the distance between them. "I really do." He pressed his lips softly against hers. His arm snaked around her back, holding her in place.

"Ewwww." They were interrupted by the four children. The twins were fake gagging while the young Veela had looks of disgust on their faces.

"_Fleur est embrasser un garçon!"_

* * *

Half an hour later, they had apparated to a sunny French beach near a magical village. They had to take multiple trips because Harry was unfamiliar with the area and Fleur was the only other one who could apparate.

Once they were all there, the children ran off into the water, leaving Harry and Fleur behind.

"Hey, it may not have been the day we were planning, but at least this is the first time we're at the beach together." Harry quipped.

"Go," Fleur shooed him. "Go play with ze kids. Make sure none are taken out to sea."

"You don't wanna come in the water?" Harry saw fear flicker across Fleur face for a brief moment before instantly transitioning into a smile. He was going to ask about it, but she spoke before he could.

"_Non. _Go play." She shooed him again. "I zink I'll just work on my tan." She slipped off the T-shirt and shorts she was wearing, revealing her body in a bikini. She giggled when she noticed his eyes almost bulging out and when he saw her body. "Go, keep an eye ze kids."

"Alright, if you say so." Harry snapped out of his trance and went in for a kiss. Their lips touched briefly before Harry ran into the water after the cheering children. Fleur laid down a towel and flicked her wand, instantly applying sunscreen to her body.

After some time of play later, Harry decided to leave the kids for a moment to check on Fleur. She was laying on her stomach facing the water, seemingly asleep. Her head rose to look at him as he approached.

"Hey." Harry crouched down next to her prone form. "You wanna come down into the water yet?"

"_Non_, it's alright, 'arry." Fleur shook her head. "Go play. I'm fine 'ere."

"Are you sure? I think you've had enough of a tan." Fleur giggled at how comical it looked when Harry's eyes roamed her body.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Do I have to pick you up and throw you in?" He made a movement to pick her up, but stopped when he saw the look of pure fear invade her face. "Fleur? What''s wrong?"

"N-nozzing." She shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of bad thoughts. "I-I'm fine."

"No you're not Fleur, tell me." Harry conjured a beach umbrella and stabbed it into the sand next to them so they wouldn't have to have this conversation with the sun's rays beating down on them. Harry grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Fleur, please."

Fleur sat up and rubbed the thumb and forefinger of her free hand thoughtfully. After a few minutes of silence, she finally spoke.

"It's ze water." She stared at the four children still splashing in the water.

"The water?"

"Yes." She answered plainly.

"Why?"

"I'm a Veela." She grabbed a lock of her hair and waved it around. "Veela are creatures of fire. Fire and water don't mix. It's natural for Veela to 'ave a small aversion to water."

"Well what about Gabrielle and Aimee?" Harry pointed his thumb behind him at the water. "They're quarter Veela, same as you."

"Zey 'aven't matured yet. In a few years, zeir Veela side will emerge." Fleur looked down at her feet shamefully. "Zey won't be like me zough." She muttered.

"What? What do you mean, 'won''t be like you'?"

"It's not just ze Veela in me zat 'ates ze water." She paused for a moment, translating her memories into coherent words. "It started when I was little. When I was younger zan even Gabrielle." The witch inhaled sharply through her nose.

"What happened?" Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"When I was a leetle girl, my parents took me to our lake house for ze weekend." She smiled at the memory in her head. "It was beautiful, 'arry. Cool, calm water. Warm, sunny weather. Plenty of ozzer families to play wiz. I remember ze first day I was standing at the edge of ze dock wiz my parents, my father pushed my mother into ze water. 'e was laughing so 'ard 'e didn't notice 'er climb out of ze water and push 'im in."

"But zen, I zink it was zat night, or the next night. One of the two. I don't remember why, but I snuck out in ze middle of ze night and sat on ze edge of ze dock. I do remember it being even more beautiful zan ze day. One moment I was sitting on ze dock, ze next I was in ze water." Fleur hand gripped Harry's tightly.

"How did you get in?"

"I don't know. I don't know if I slipped, or if..."

"Somebody pushed you?"

"I don't know." The Veela shrugged. "I didn't know 'ow to swim, so I was splashing and trying to scream for 'elp. Zankfully, some of my teenage neighbors were returning home from a party, so one of zem dove in and saved me. When zey brought me to my parents, I was a soaked, crying mess." Her eyes trailed off into the distance. "I didn't 'ave to go into ze water for years after zat."

"Until the Second Task?" Harry guessed. Fleur only nodded and sighed.

"Until ze Second Task. I was terrified when I found out we 'ad to swim to ze bottom of ze lake, 'arry. I wanted to quit. I wanted to go 'ome. I didn't want to 'ave to go in ze water again. But, Madame Maxime spoke to me. She told me zat I was selected, zat I was a champion for our school. Zat ze tournament was deigned to push us to our limits. Zat I 'ad to do it." She paused to collect her thoughts.

"I still didn't know 'ow to swim, so Madame Maxime 'ad a private instructor called and created a pool in ze carriage for me to swim in. By ze time of ze Second Task, I 'ad only been learning for about two months, I was so scared, 'arry." She wiped away a tear that was threatening to run down her cheek and met Harry's eyes. "But I 'ad to put away my fears. I 'ad to crush zem. Ze night before, Madame Maxime told me zat I 'ad to save Gabrielle." She pointed at the girl still splashing in the water with their cousins. "Zat gave me ze strength to push my fears away."

"I have a feeling there's a 'but' coming."

"But it was only temporary, just because I pushed ze fears away, it didn't mean zey weren't still zere. When I dove into ze water, I could already feel my courage melting away. I just wanted to find Gabrielle and get out of ze water."

"But you didn't get to her."

"I was never even close. Zose zings, zose grindylows. Zere were so many..." Harry squeezed her hand again. "Zey swarmed me, and I felt zem dragging me down to ze bottom of ze lake. One of zem pierced my bubblehead charm, so I was being dragged down with no air. I'm only here today because ze Merpeople rescued me and brought me back to ze surface." Fleur choked back a sob. "I can't go in ze water! Not again!"

"Shh shh shh." Harry shushed, putting an arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, Fleur. I'm here, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid. You're okay."

Fleur leaned into his body, her eyes on the children.

* * *

**Originally, chapter 11 was a totally different story. But I realized that it didn't fit in at all with the rest of the stories and was generally bad, so I took it down. So if you read it and reviewed, I'm not sure if you'll be able to review again. If you haven't read it, ignore this.**

**So I noticed that no one has ever done a story on the psychological trauma of the Triwiz on anyone but Harry. Especially the Second Task. Wouldn't being attacked by dozens of small, tentacled creatures underwater and possibly drowning mess with someone's head at least a little bit? Or fighting a dragon. Or getting pulled under a hedge by the roots. Oh! I smell a new chapter...**

**Feedback and Criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	12. Notes

**Doing something I haven't seen too often in our little corner of the site. **

**Fleur and Harry are going to seem a little OOC. Okay, maybe a little more than a little. But I think it's still readable.**

**One last thing, I started this a couple of weeks ago, adding things here and there over that time, writing the last three-quarters in one sitting. So if things seem a bit funky, sorry.**

* * *

Fleur,

Dragons. The first task is dragons. I'm not sure if your headmistress told you, so I am, just in case. I'm also telling Krum and Cedric. I just want us all to be on a level playing field.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_My headmistress did tell me, but thank you for informing me. It is quite noble of you to help your competition._

_But keep in mind that we are not on a level playing field, the other champions and I have three more years of schooling ahead of you. While we may not have defeated a Dark Lord as a baby, three years can make a difference._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Have you figured out the egg? I know it's against the rules to help a fellow champion, but who's really following the rules anymore?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_Very good point. _

_I have not solved it yet. But I will tell you as soon as I do._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

_Harry,_

_I solved it! You need to get it wet._

_My egg somehow rolled off my desk just as I sent the last note and opened. The sudden screeching surprised me, causing me to knock a glass of water over it. The screeching instantly turned to singing for a few seconds before returning to screeching. Submerge it in water. Perhaps in a bathtub?_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Thanks for the help, you're a life saver. But what does the riddle mean? The obvious is that we have an hour to find whatever they took, our it'll be gone forever.

But who is 'they' and why can't they sing above the ground? Are there any magical creatures that live underground?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_I'm unaware of any underground creatures, however, there are magical creatures that live underwater._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

That would make sense, with putting the egg under the water.

The only place big enough for us to swim in is in the Black Lake. I'll ask around and try to find out what lives in the water other than the Giant Squid.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_Giant Squid?_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Yup. Aside from being a giant squid that could easily crush us, I'm pretty sure he's mostly harmless. Mostly.

Anyways, I've asked around and found out that mermaids live at the bottom of the lake. I'm betting we'll have to swim down there to grab whatever they took.

Harry Potter

* * *

Fleur,

I almost forgot! It's going to be cold when we swim. Better start getting used to our waters, they're a bit colder than France's.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_I can handle it. Can you?_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

I'm sure you can.

I've had a lot of stuff thrown at me the past few years, like have a dragon nearly kill me. I think I can handle some cold water and some mermaids.

Harry Potter.

* * *

Fleur,

Hey, it's been a few days since we last talked, spoke, wrote, whatever.

So, the Yule Ball, has anyone asked you yet?

Harry

* * *

_Harry,_

_Is that your way of asking me to the Yule Ball?_

_If it is, I'm sorry, someone else has already asked me and I've accepted it. I'm sorry._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

No, it wasn't! Don't worry about it! I was just curious, as all.

On an unrelated note, do you know anyone who doesn't have a date?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_Did you enjoy the Yule Ball?_

_Merry Christmas!_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Merry Christmas to you too.

It was okay. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great either.

How about you? Did you have a good time?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_I had an okay time too. It was fun, but my date acted like a complete idiot._

_I wish I had waited for someone better to come along._

_Oh well, __C'est la vie._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Happy New Year!

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_Happy New Year!_

_Too bad there weren't any fireworks. I would have loved to see some fireworks._

_Fleur Delacour._

* * *

Fleur,

Yeah, fireworks would have been bloody amazing.

Harry Potter

* * *

Fleur,

Are you ready for the Second Task yet? I know it's just under two months away, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Harry Potter.

* * *

_Harry,_

_I'm getting there. _

_Actually, I preparing right now. Madame Maxime has me sitting in a bathtub full of ice water. It's freezing!  
_

_She expects me to do this every week and eventually every day, so my body begins to get used to the cold water. Kill me now.  
_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Wow, you guys are really going all out on this, huh? I guess I should start having ice water baths too.

There's still the issue of breathing for an hour underwater. Any ideas?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_There is always the Bubblehead charm. You can probably ask one of the older students or one of your teachers for help._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

After a few weeks of practicing the spell, I can tell you one thing. I'm shit at it. With the task just around the corner, I need to figure something out soon.

Harry Potter.

* * *

_Harry,_

_You need to keep trying! If you give up now, you'll never get it!_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

The task is just days away and I got nothing. Well, I do have a friend pursuing a lead, but it isn't definite.

Do you have any idea what we'll have to retrieve from the merpeople?

Harry Potter.

* * *

_Harry,_

_I have no idea what we'll have to get._

_Here's to hoping your friend comes through!_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Are you and Gabrielle alright? You both seemed a bit shaken up after the Task.

Harry Potter.

* * *

_Harry,_

_You're asking if I'm alright? What about you? You found that dead man in the woods!_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

I'm alright, I've dealt with worse.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_I can't believe our last task is a maze. After a dragon and swimming to the bottom of a lake, our final challenge is a maze. Granted, a maze filled with dangerous creatures, but a maze nonetheless._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Looks like we'll both need to start brushing up on our combat spells. Knowing that Hagrid is involved, we're going to have some pretty nasty creatures.

Harry Potter.

* * *

_Harry,_

_We will. Perhaps we should train together? Two heads are better than one._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Consider it a date.

Harry Potter

* * *

Fleur,

I am so sorry about what happened at practice earlier. I wasn't thinking clearly and was caught up in the moment. I hope I didn't ruin anything.

I'm truly sorry, I really am.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_It's okay. Like you said, you were caught up in the moment. The situation was intense. It's understandable that you kissed me._

_I'm okay. You're okay. We're okay. Relax._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

Are we still on for practice tomorrow?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_Of course we are._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

All this practice is going to be put to use the day after tomorrow, do you think we're ready?

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_I think we're as ready as can be. We just have to stay smart and keep our eyes peeled. Like one of your professors said, Constant Vigilance!_

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

Fleur,

He's back. I can't believe it. He's back and he killed Cedric.

This was all his plan to return from the dead. This whole thing was just a scheme to come back to life and kill me.

He's back. And he wants me dead.

Harry Potter

* * *

_Harry,_

_It's going to be okay. You've beat him before, you'll beat him again. But this time, you'll have me and whoever else believes you to support you._

_I'm here for you, until the very end._

_Fleur Delacour_

* * *

_Harry,_

_Wow, it's been years since our last messages to each other. I don't even know exactly how many years._

_What did I say? I stuck with you through thick and thin, until the very end. And after the very end, I stuck around a little longer._

_I just want to say one thing, I love you, Harry Potter._

_Fleur Potter_

_P.S. It's your turn to change the baby's diaper._

* * *

**Feedback and Criticism is always appreciated.**


	13. Sunday

**Just a tiny little chapter. This plot-less fluff just popped in my head and just had to be put to words. **

**I'll try to have a nice sized chapter up within a week or two. No promises though, schoolwork is killer.**

* * *

The sunlight crept into the room, slowly illuminating the room. Two figures laid in the room's bed, tangled in the blankets. A mess of black hair sat on one side, a head of blond hair just a few inches away next to it. Despite the illuminated room, neither figure stirred.

The black hair finally stirred, looking down at the blonde hair.

"Mornin'" Harry murmured.

"Mmm." Fleur grunted, burying her face in his chest. "What time is it?"

Harry's head lolled to the side, looking at the clock on the nightstand.

"12:07." His head returned to its original position.

"Good afternoon." Fleur said drowsily.

"Mhm." Harry chuckled. His lips met the top of her blonde head. "I like Sundays."

"Me too." She muttered into his chest. "I don't want to 'ave to move."

"We don't have to," Harry yawned. "It's not like we have work or anything."

"Yeah," Fleur nodded. "Ze world can go without us for a day."

"I love you." Harry muttered after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"I love you too."

* * *

**Feedback and Criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	14. Orphanage

**Huge thanks to _Slytherin66 _for always reviewing and sharing their thoughts!**

**This chapter is not nearly as serious as the title sounds.**

* * *

They had met in probably the least likely of circumstances. He was walking down a London street. She was walking on the same street in the opposite direction. They had vaguely recognized each other in the distance, this becoming more apparent as the distance between them closed.

"'arry!" She flashed a smiled and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Fleur!" He returned the hug. "What are you doing in London?"

"I 'ad some vacation days saved up. I'm visiting a cousin that lives 'ere." Fleur beamed. "What about you? I zought you were an Auror."

"I'm not an Auror. I'm just going to work right now."

"Oh! I shouldn't keep you zen!"

"It's okay, it's just around the corner and I'm ten minutes early anyways." Harry shrugged. "Care to walk with me for a few minutes?"

"Only if you tell me why you aren't an Auror." She nodded. They began walking towards the corner.

"Well, I dropped out of the academy." Harry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Why? I zought you always wanted to be an Auror?"

"I did. But after the war, after Hogwarts..." His eyes grew distant for a moment before returning. "I just didn't want to be an Auror after all that. So I put it all behind me."

"So what are you now?" Fleur quickly moved on. They turned the corner onto a residential street.

"Well, I work there." He pointed at a brick house that was larger than the other houses. It took the width of about three regular homes and looked to have an extra floor on top. A large plaque on a short brick column read _Hallows Orphanage._

"An orphanage?"

"Yeah, after I dropped out of the academy, I realized that I wanted help children like myself and Tom. Give them better lives than we had ever had."

"Tom?"

"Oh right, I forgot that most his past wasn't common knowledge. Tom Riddle. He was the orphan that later became Voldemort." Harry said casually, as if he was talking about the weather.

"Voldemort was an orphan?" Fleur looked bewildered.

"Yeah." They stopped in front of the plaque. "So this is it." They were both silent for a moment, neither really sure what to say.

"I should let you-"

"I should go-" They said simultaneously. Their eyes met and they chuckled.

"I'll see you later, 'arry. We should catch up sometime."

"We should. See you later, Fleur."

"_Au revoir,_ 'arry." They hugged briefly before Fleur departed and Harry entered the building.

* * *

The next day, Harry found Fleur standing outside the orphanage. Her eyes were on the building, eyes full of curiosity. She didn't notice him approaching.

"Fleur?" She pulled her eyes off the building.

"'arry." She grinned.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, remember when I said zat we should catch up yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"I might 'ave forgotten zat I'm going back to France tomorrow." She smiled sheepishly.

"And today is your last day."

"_Oui. _So I was wondering, could we catch up today?" Her face was hopeful.

"Oh, well, I'm sort of working all day." Harry pointed at the building they were in front of.

"Oh." Her face fell. "Zen I should go, maybe anozzer time." She turned to leave.

"No wait," He reached out and grabbed her arm. "I have an idea; how much do you like kids?"

* * *

The building was sound proofed quite well. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with the sound of half a dozen screaming children, running through the hallways with paper swords.

"Kids! Be careful!" A young brown-haired woman stopped in front of Fleur and Harry at the entrance, yelling at the kids. She turned to face the pair with a smile. "Hey Harry, who do you have here?"

"A friend of mine. She'll be helping out around here today." Harry answered.

"Good! Jack called in sick today, and I didn't want to have to call someone else in." She stuck her hand out at Fleur. "I'm Diane. I guess I'm what you would call the supervisor, owner, whatever, here." Fleur took the offered hand and shook it.

"Fleur Delacour."

"I'm going to have to cut this meeting a little short." A screaming child dashed past the trio before disappearing around the corner. "I'm going to have to wrangle these little munchkins together so we can start class." She waved at the pair before disappearing around the same corner as the screaming child.

"Wow." Fleur's eyes scanned the interior of the orphanage. "It looks so much bigger on ze inside."

"It was Diane's grandmother's home before her father turned it into an orphanage. Even back then, Muggle engineering and architecture was pretty advanced." Harry touched the wall and rubbed a barely noticeable inscription on the paint. "A little bit of magic helps a little too."

"What did you do?"

"Just added a bits of space here and there. A few more feet in the storage closet. Made the steps just a little smaller so the younger kids could walk up them more safely." Harry shrugged. "The orphanage needed the space, I figured they would appreciate it."

"Always ze noble one, 'arry." Fleur laughed.

"Shut it." He said with mock anger. "C'mon, help me grab a couple younger kids so they can start their lessons."

Ten minutes later, Harry and Fleur had gotten a handful of children into a classroom at the back of the house. From the rune on the door, Fleur could see that Harry had expanded the room so it could accommodate the dozen students. Along the way, they met another worker, Daniel, a fire haired young man who looked barely older than some of the kids at the orphanage.

Harry explained that Daniel had grown up in the orphanage. Once he was old enough to live on his own, the orphanage had to ask him to leave to make room for more children. He didn't hold any hard feelings for the orphanage, as shown by his return six months later after acquiring a nearby flat and job. Daniel volunteered at the orphanage when he could spare the time. Other than Diane, Harry and Daniel, there were about 6 or 7 volunteers who helped out at the orphanage in one way or another throughout the week.

It was quieter in the orphanage now. All the younger children were in class with Diane, leaving the teenagers lulling about the building.

Harry and Fleur relaxed on a couch in the large living room. The teenagers never caused too much trouble unlike their younger counterparts, so they could rest until the children finished their lessons. Fleur was grateful for a break, getting all the children into class was more exhausting than it sounded.

"So how have you been? What do you do?"

"I'm good. I 'ave a nice little flat in Paris zat 'as an amazing view of ze Seine River. I'm a 'ealer at St. Durar's. It's ze French equivalent of England's St. Mungo's." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "What about you? 'ow 'ave you been?"

"I'm alright. After the war, what, seven years ago?" Fleur nodded in confirmation. "Well, after the war, after the academy, I came here to France and got a flat using the money my parent's left me. I found the orphanage a few months later and I've been helping out ever since." Fleur huffed with amusement. "What?"

"Do you ever miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"All ze excitement from all zose years ago. Sure, it was dangerous, but it was quite exciting, don't you zink?"

"I guess I do miss it sometimes. But while competing in deadly tournaments was fun, I'm grateful I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder for an assassin or something." They fell into a lull of silence.

"Can you believe it's been ten years already? Since ze tournament?"

"Merlin, it's been ages."

"Hey Harry, Fleur," Daniel's face appeared in the doorway. "Lessons are gonna end soon, just a heads up." He disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

"Yeah, thanks Dan." Harry called after him. "Huh." Harry glanced at Fleur.

"What?"

"He wasn't affected by your allure." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As a matter of fact, I haven't felt it the entire time you've been here or yesterday."

"It's been years, 'arry. Some tings about me have changed, like my allure.

"How so?"

"I've mastered my ambient allure; I 'ave near full control over it."

"Near full control?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"_Oui._ While I able to control my ambient allure, zat tug you feel by just being near a Veela, I'm still learning 'ow to control my active allure, ze one you feel when a veela wants you specifically." Harry nodded attentively.

"Huh, interesting. So you can just sort of turn it on and off at will?"

"_Oui._ For ze most part, anyway."

"I see, well now for the hard part of your day." Fleur gave an exaggerated groan, eliciting a laugh from Harry. "C'mon, let's go." He picked himself up off the couch and offered a hand for Fleur. She took it and he pulled her up.

They spent the next hour running around the home, chasing down howling children and trying to keep the peace. In a matter of minutes, Fleur was completely out of breath with a few beads of sweat running down her face, her occupation as a healer never had her do anything as strenuous as this. Harry, on the other hand, who had years of Quidditch training and had done this for years, looked no worse for wear.

* * *

Fleur sat on a wooden stool alone at the kitchen island, sipping a glass of water. Harry had been dragged away by a crowd of young boys to the living room because they were the knights and needed a big bad monster to attack their pillow fort. Things had quieted down, with most of the play being confined to the bedrooms or in the living room with Harry. Fleur smiled into her glass when she heard Harry roar in mock pain when he died at the hands of the miniature knights for the third time.

"Hi." A small voice said. Fleur looked down to her side to find a young brown-haired boy scrambling on top of the stool next to her. He looked to be no older than five or six years old.

"'ello zere." Fleur greeted the child.

"You talk funny." Fleur wasn't phased by this at all, she knew kids could be extremely blunt.

"Well, zat's my accent."

"What's a ass-ent?" He asked curiously. Fleur almost squealed from how adorable he sounded.

"It's a way zat someone speaks. You see, I'm not from here, I'm from France. So I talk differently."

"You're really pretty, did you know that?" He changed the subject fairly quickly.

"You zink so? Zank you." The Veela ruffled his head a little. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Fleur showed no signs of embarrassment. Countless scores of men hitting on her throughout her teenage and adult years until she managed to reel in her allure made her grow accustomed to these types of questions.

"No, I don't at ze moment."

"Can I be your boyfriend? And you could be my girlfriend?" Fleur cooed at how adorable her was acting. She decided she'd have to play along.

"But we don't even know each ozzer's names!" She shrugged. "How can we ever be boyfriend and girlfriend if you don't know my name and I don't know yours?" The boy's eyebrows furrowed and her expression turned into one of deep thought.

"Umm. Umm. I know! We'll tell each other our names!" He said after a few moments of thought. He looked to be utterly proud that he came up with this solution.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! Okay, let me show you!" He pointed at himself. "I'm Timothy!"

"I'm Fleur." She laid a hand on her chest.

"Okay, now that I know your name and you know my name, can we be boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Timothy looked up at her hopefully.

"_Oui." _Timothy looked up at her quizzically.

"'We'? Why did you say 'we'?" His adorableness was beginning to be too much.

"_Oui_, it means 'yes' in my language, French."

"Ohhhhhh." His eyes were filled with happiness as he hopped off the stool and grabbed her hand. "C'mon! We gotta tell everyone!" Fleur allowed herself to be pulled by the small boy out of the kitchen. He led her to the living room, where a gang of boys were mercilessly beating upon a prone Harry with pillows. A group of girls with princess hats that were standing on one of the couches were cheering the boys on.

"GUYS! HEY GUYS! GUYS, STOP!" Timothy yelled. The gang of boys stopped their assault on Harry whose head popped up as soon as the pounding from the pillows stopped. "Okay guys, I want you to meet- wait, what's your name again?" Timothy looked up the French woman.

"Fleur."

"Her name is Fleur! And she's my girlfriend!" Timothy declared proudly. From his position on the floor, Harry scowled slightly. And Fleur noticed.

"Really?" One of the girls on the couch climbed down and asked.

"Yeah really, right?" Timothy shook theird joined hands.

"Yes, he's telling ze truth." Fleur confirmed.

"You talk funny." On of the boys said. Kids sure were blunt.

* * *

After a long day of playing the girlfriend for a five-year old, Fleur was both relieved and disappointed when bedtime came upon them. While she was exhausted from the antics of the day, she was sad to see the fun have to end.

"Good night, _mon petie."_ Fleur kissed Timothy on the forehead. Timothy yawned sleepily and began softly snoring with the other boys in the boys' dorm. A dozen nightlights lit the beds of the younger children. The beds furthest from the door were vacant, the teenagers were allowed to stay up later than their younger counterparts.

Looking at the doorway, she found Harry leaning against the frame his silhouette illuminated by a dimly lit hallway. In the soft glow of the nightlights, she could see a scowl etched into his face. But this melted away as soon as their eyes met.

As quietly as she could, she tip toed out the room and closed it slowly behind her. As soon as it closed, she faced Harry.

"Jealous, are you?"

"What?" He began to walk down the stairs. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't be coy wiz me, 'arry Potter. You know what I'm talking about. You're jealous."

"No I'm not." He declared indignantly. "But, what if I was?"

"Then I'd say there's nozzing to worry about."

"Why?"

"Because I have my eyes on another man." Harry felt the warm tendrils of allure begin to become apparent in the air.

"Really?" They stopped in the of the door. They could hear the teenagers watching an action movie in the living. Diane and the others were probably in the kitchen,

"Yes." She discretely pulled out her wand and murmured a notice me not charm on herself. "I guess this is goodbye zen, 'arry." She pulled him into an embrace.

"Yeah, goodbye." He returned the hug.

"Next time you're in France, call me. I'm sure I can find somezing fun for us to do." She purred into his ear. She step outside into the night and took a deep breathe. "_Au revoir,_ 'arry." There was a soft pop and Harry was left with the image of Fleur smiling at him in his head.

Harry had to get to Paris. Soon.

* * *

**Oh Fleur, such a tease.**

_**Durararaaa, **_**I hope you don't mind having a fictional hospital named after you.**

**Criticism and Feedback is always appreciated.**


	15. Breakfast

**God, I hate classwork.**

* * *

Fleur cracked her neck and stretched. She reached over to her side, expecting to find the warm body of her boyfriend. Instead, she just found an empty area with the faintest hints of warmth.

She turned her head to confirm what she felt. Yup, he was gone. But she didn't really care at the moment. If she had the bed all to herself, she could catch a few minutes of sleep.

But the distant sound of clanging and sizzling kept her from returning to the warm embrace of sleep. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood and made her way to the door that would lead her to the rest of the London flat. She slowly walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, sound becoming louder with every step.

"Bloody- fuck!" Harry's voice quickly cut through the other sounds. This piqued the Veela's interest.

Rounding the corner, she found Harry standing at the stove, trying to fry eggs. Said eggs were a blackened, shriveled mess. Harry wore a "Kiss the cook" apron.

"'arry," Fleur flicked her hand, banishing the black mess into the trash bin with wandless magic. "What are you doing?"

"Oh Fleur." He turned to face her. "Oh you know, making breakfast." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Why?" Fleur glanced over to the counter, where a mess of ingredients sat. It looked like he had tried to make pancakes. "You know I always make breakfast."

"Exactly." He shrugged. "Since you make it all the time, I figured I should give you a break and make breakfast for once. It sorta didn't work though." Harry looked down at his feet shamefully.

"You don't say?" Fleur leaned on the kitchen door frame. "It's okay 'arry, stop looking so mopey. You just aren't a very good cook." She grinned.

"Hey!" He looked up with an indignant expression.

"Why didn't you use magic to cook anyways? I'm sure zat it probably would've turned out better."

"Mrs. Weasley said that food tastes better if you cook it without magic. But I haven't really cooked in years, so I guess I'm a little out of practice." Harry looked like a sad little puppy. "I'm sorry, Fleur." This made Fleur's heart melt.

"Awww 'arry," She quickly walked over and embraced him. "Like I said, it's okay." She looked him in the eyes then to the counter behind him. "Now let's see if we can't salvage some of zose pancakes."

* * *

**Ah, pointless, plotless fluff. Good times, no?  
**

**Feedback and Criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	16. Atlas

**So, one of my cousins is about four and can speak fairly well. With Harry being the heir to a pureblood family and with some help from magic, I figured he'd be able to speak from a young age.**

**This is some extreme AU territory. Just go with it.**

**Sorry for the delay, school and extracurriculars are killer. Also, procrastination. **

* * *

"Hold my hand tight, alright Harry?"

"Okay mummy." The four-year old boy gripped his mother's hand tightly as they stepped into the green flames of the fireplace. They emerged into a tavern unfamiliar to Harry, but familiar to the Potter Matriarch.

"Afternoon, Tom." Lily greeted the barkeep, who had a dozen rags cleaning glasses in mid-air.

"Afternoon, Mrs. Potter." Tom looked down to the child gripping Lily's hand. "And who's this handsome fellow?" Harry jumped behind his mother's legs in fear.

"This is Harry, don't be rude, say 'hello', Harry." She gently nudged him forward. He was resistant at first, but relented.

"H-hi." He squeaked out.

"And what are you two doing today at Diagon? If you don't mind me asking." Tom waved a hand the clean glasses settled down behind the counter.

"Just doing some shopping. It's been ages since I've had time to just casually walk around Diagon. And Harry here hasn't been to Diagon Alley since he was a baby. Two birds one stone."

"Wow, last time I saw you, you were a tiny thing that was barely two glasses high!." Tom held up to glass cups for emphasis. "Pretty soon you'll be as big and strong as your dad, right?" Tom grinned at Harry, who had returned to hiding spot behind his mother.

"Harry! Don't be rude!" Lily scolded her son. "Answer him."

"It's alright, Mrs. Potter." Tom waved her off. "The lad's just shy. I'm sure he'll warm up soon enough." He shrugged. "Have a nice day!"

Lily gently grasped Harry's hand and pulled him toward the back of the building. She couldn't help but grin as she watched his face contort into amazement as the bricks opened into Diagon Alley.

The shopping center was bustling as always. Hundreds of magical folk wandered from shop to shop, browsing and buying. Gringotts' white marble building at the far end of the alley sat far above the other shops.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had a constant flow of traffic from the younger crowd. The joke shop was run by the Weasley family, its members filling the various roles of employees and management. The shop was conceived when the Weasley twins suggested the idea to their parents. After some convincing, both parents decided to take the risk and took out a loan from Gringotts. Within months, the debt was fully paid off and the Weasley family had to open a larger vault to hold the small fortune of profits from the shop. Despite their new found wealth, the family managed to keep themselves humble and rooted to the ground.

"Mummy, look at all the people!" Harry waved his hand across all the people in front of him.

"There are so many!" Lily cooed, grinning at her son. "C'mon, we have some shopping to do, where do you wanna go first?"

"Ummm," Harry's eyes scanned the storefronts. "That one!" He pointed. Lily followed the direction of his finger to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Maybe later Harry," She pushed his extended arm, changing the storefront he was pointing at. "How about that one first?"

* * *

"Mummy, can we go yet?" The young heir drawled, bored out of his mind in the bookstore. Flourish and Bott's was fairly empty, despite the time of day. There seemed to be only a dozen or so magical folk browsing the books.

"In a minute, dear," Lily's eyes scanned the herbology tome in her hands. Harry groaned. "Look, why don't you go over to those books?" Lily pointed at a low shelf with thin children's books which had colorful covers. "I think those have moving pictures. I'll only be a few more moments, okay?" She put the herbology book back and grabbed a rune book from another shelf.

"Okay Mum." Harry walked over to the shelf, picking out a book titled _The Tales of Beedle the Bard._ Harry sat down on the floorboards next to the shelf of children's books with the book in his lap. The children's section was in a corner of the shop and there didn't seem to be any other children in the store, so Harry wasn't in anyone's way.

He was enjoying the animated illustrations of a talking tree stump when a pair of small feet in expensive looking shoes appeared in the corner of his vision.

"What are you reading?" A girl's voice said. Harry raised his heads and met the blue eyes of a blonde haired girl. She looked to be just a handful of years older than him and barely taller. The girl wore a light blue dress that fell just below her knees. If Harry had just one word to describe her, he would say 'beautiful'. She peered down at the book in his lap. "Ze Tales of Beedle ze Bard?"

"Y-yeah."

"I like ze pictures."

"Me too."

"I'm Fleur. What's your name?"

"Harry." The boy answered shyly.

"'arry, zat's a nice name." Harry blushed slightly at her comment. "Can I join you?"

"S-sure." He stuttered. Fleur smiled and sat down next to Harry. She stared down at the pictures in the book. Harry tried to focus on the pictures, but his mind kept wandering to the girl next to her. He wondered about the girl. About who she was and who she would be. He tried to decide what to ask her first. After a moment of internal debate, he reached a conclusion. Gathering his courage, Harry opened his mouth and asked his question.

"Why do you talk funny?" Smooth Harry, real smooth.

"Huh?" Fleur looked up from the book at him quizzically? "What do you mean?"

"You talk funny. Like, you don't say some words right."

"Well, I'm not from around 'ere." Fleur shrugged. "And I don't speak English a lot."

"Where did you come from?"

"My mama said I was born in Paris. In France."

"France? Where's that?" Harry rubbed his chin, searching his mind for France's location.

"Really far away. I don't know 'ow far zough." The pair sat in silence for a moment, trying figure out a solution to their dilemma.

"I know! One time, my mummy showed me a book that had pictures of the world!" Harry leapt to his feet excitedly. "Maybe we can find France on it!"

"Yeah, zere are a lot of books in 'ere, one 'as to 'ave it!" Fleur jumped to her feet and joined Harry in searching for an atlas.

* * *

"Adorable, aren't zey?" A voice said beside Lily, who was watching the pair of children flip through the pages of the atlas they had found. She turned to find an older blonde woman. Although, she hardly looked older; she looked to be about Lily's age, but her eyes told a different, older tale.

"They are." Lily returned to watching the children. "French, right?"

"_Oui_." The woman nodded. "Apolline Delacour."

"I'm Lily Potter. My son is Harry."

"My daughter over zere is Fleur." A pair of laughs drew grins from the mothers.

"So what brings you two so far from France? It can't be the shopping, can it?" Apolline chuckled at the quip.

"_Non, non. _While zis isn't Paris, ze shopping 'ere is different, ze good 'usband is an ambassador. 'e is staying 'ere in England for a few days on business and asked if we wanted to come along."

"Really? How long are you staying?"

"Just a few more days."

"Ah." The women fell into a silence, observing their two children.

* * *

"There it is!" Harry's finger landed on Germany.

"_Non, _it's over 'ere." Fleur pushed his finger to France on the map.

"Oh, right. Well it was close!" Harry glanced at the girl, who rolled her eyes. "Now what? Since we found France."

"I know! We sho-"

"Fleur! It's time to go!" A voice unfamiliar to Harry called out. Fleur's face fell upon hearing the voice.

"Zat's my mama."

"Does that mean you have to go now?"

"_Oui._" She answered dejectedly. "Coming, Mama!" They stood and walked side by side to an older version of Fleur, who happened to be standing next to Harry's mother.

"Mummy? What are you doing with Fleur's mum?"

"Just talking to her, dear." Lily crouched down to his eye level. "And who's this beautiful young woman?"

"Her name is Fleur." Harry stated in a matter-of-factly voice. "We're friends now."

"Oh really now?" Apolline smiled at the children.

"Yup!"

"Oh dear, look at ze time." Apolline glanced at a clock hanging on the wall. "We 'ave to get going and meet your fazzer at ze ministry."

"Do we 'ave to?" Fleur grabbed Harry by the arm. "Me and 'arry where 'aving so much fun!"

"I'm sorry, _mon petite, _we 'ave to get going." Fleur pouted and stuck out her lip. Lily, recognizing the signs of an oncoming tantrum, quickly intervened.

"Hey look! Your mother told me that you guy are staying in Britain for a few more days, why don't the two of you come over to our home so you can Harry can play?" Lily suggested.

"Yeah!" Harry cheered excitedly. "We can play with all my toys and play with my dad's broom and stuff!" The boy seemed ready to bounce from bookshelf to bookshelf in excited energy.

"Can we, mama? Please?" Fleur looked up at her mother with pitiful eyes.

"Yes, we can."

"Yay!" The children cheered excitedly. They embraced each other and bounced around in circles. Once they were done, Apolline spoke again.

"But we 'ave to go now, you and 'arry can play tomorrow. Say your goodbyes."

"Bye, Fleur." Harry said simply. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, 'arry." Harry's face turned beet red when she kissed him on the cheek.

* * *

**Reading this, I realize that I completely forgot about Gabrielle. Let's just say that this takes place very early in the pregnancy or sometime in the weeks before inception.**

**Also, let's just say that since Fleur's father is an ambassador, she was raised bilingual, that's how she was able to speak English so well.  
**

**Feedback and Criticism is greatly appreciated.**


	17. Camping

**It took ages to write this measly chapter of pure, plotless fluff. My muse has just been MIA recently.**

* * *

Harry and Fleur were camping. They had ridden a pair of brooms to the middle of nowhere in France, far from any civilization. The couple found a suitable place for their camp and had set up with a layer of wards to keep out any unwanted muggles and wildlife within minutes.

Arriving just before sunset, the couple decided to not venture too far from their camp until morning. They explored the general vicinity of their camp, noting any interesting areas before retiring in front of their campfire and then tent.

* * *

In their tent, Fleur's head rested on Harry's chest. A protective arm held her close to him. Outside, the temperature was beginning to drop. A shiver racked Fleur's body and Harry pulled her closer. Harry's arm easily wrapped around Fleur slender frame.

"You alright?"

"_Oui._" She grabbed his arm for warmth. The veela glanced down at it when she noticed something off about the skin of his arm._"_What's zis from?" She traced the faint round scar on his arm. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed the scar until now. Then again, it was barely noticeable.

"A Basilisk." He stared down at the scar. "Back in second year."

"Really?" She lifted her head from its place on his chest to look him in the eye. "A Basilisk?"

"Yup. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived twice, and you're surprised I survived a fight with a Basilisk?"

"Shut up," she gently punched him on the shoulder. He recoiled in mock pain, eliciting a giggle from her before settling back down next to him. Harry kissed the top of her head She felt a finger trace circles on the patch of hair he had kissed.

"What's this bump from?"

"Zat? It's story is not nearly as glamorous as fighting a Basilisk."

"Oh really? Tell me. I bet it's alright." Harry pushed.

"I fell." She stated plainly.

"You're right, not nearly as amazing as mine." Harry quipped. Fleur punched him again, this time in the stomach. "Ow!"

"Zat's not all of it." Fleur smirked at the sight of the Boy-Who-Lived rubbing his stomach in pain. "I fell down a flight of stairs when I was about seven years old. My head broke my fall." Harry chuckled at her banter. "Zere was blood everywhere. Ze medi-witch zat examined me said I was lucky zere was only bleeding and no brain damage."

"Good. I don't know how I'd survive if you didn't have that brain in your head." Harry tapped her head bump.

"You'd probably be in St. Mungo's after anozzer failed attempt in recreating butterbeer zat ended wiz an explosion." She quipped with a grin.

"Hey, that was _one _time!"

They were like this for some time. They traded the stories of their scars, which ranged from a result of falling rubble at the Battle of Hogwarts to tripping over an untied shoelace. The sizes of the scars were as large as wands and as small as thumbtacks. After a while, their banter grew more slurred until they were in the warm embrace of sleep.

* * *

After a breakfast of granola bars, the couple picked a direction and wandered off into the forest.

"Hey, look." Harry pointed at a pair of red foxes that were watching them. The foxes were like statues, peering around the trunk of a tree at the couple. Their amber eyes were the only things that moved, tracking the two humans before them.

"Zere are two of zem, do you zink zey 'ave babies nearby?" Both humans scanned the clearing they were in, looking for any evidence of a den of some sort.

"I don't know, but we should leave anyway, just in case they do."

"Agreed."

The pair left the area and walked some distance away. Fleur absentmindedly grabbed Harry's hand as they began to ascend the slope of a hill.

* * *

"Zat one looks like a fish."

"No, I think it looks more like a Hippogriff." She tilted her head to the side, analyzing the cloud.

"Hmm, it does."

They currently sat on a large rock on the hill they had just climbed, pointing out the shapes they saw in the clouds drifting by. In the distance, there was a large collection of gray clouds that seemed to be slowly heading their way.

"What about zat one? It looks a little like a snake." Fleur pointed at a narrow, curvy cloud.

"Eh, looks more like a Basilisk." Fleur promptly punched him on the arm. "Ow!"

"Zey are ze same zing!" Harry rubbed his arm and stuck out his tongue.

"That looks like a bird." Harry pointed at another puffy amorphous cloud.

"Non, it looks more lik-" Harry pulled out his wand and flicked it, muttering an incantation. The cloud shifted and took shape, transforming into a soaring bird. "Hey!" Zat's cheating!" He leaned back on his elbows looked at her with an amused expression.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Harry stuck out his tongue again. Her tongue was stuck out in retaliation.

"Well, cheaters 'ave to be punished..." Leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, really now?" Harry made no effort to stop her.

"Mhm." Harry leaned back as she began to climb on top of him. A drop of water landed between them and onto Harry's chest. Looking up, the pair had found that the gray clouds had quickly advanced and hovered far above them. Around them, hundreds of droplets of water began to pepper the ground.

Fleur looked up and muttered an incantation, wandlessly casting a spell. Instantly, a transparent shield in the shape of half a sphere encased the rock they were on. Raindrops pattered upon the shield before sliding off and down into the ground. The sound of raindrops falling onto the shield filled their ears.

"I love magic." Harry said with an almost child-like wonder, eye watching the droplets run down the side of the shield.

"_Je t'aime._" Fleur smiled and continued to climb on top of Harry.

* * *

**Sorry for the gaps between updates. At first, I managed to get a chapter out every week for about two months. Now I've severely slowed down. It doesn't help that I can't seem to come up with feasible ideas that I can translate into text. Again, I'm sorry.**

**Feedback and Criticism is greatly appreciated.**


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